UFC fighter Alan Belcher has taken a break from MMA since a unanimous decision loss to Michael Bisping in April 2013. His last win was against Rousimar Palhares over a year prior to that.
Last year, he competed in a Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the Gi, the Copa Podio heavyweight GP. Belcher is a BJJ black belt under the legendary Helio Soneca. He is using this time off to heal injuries and focus on improving and becoming a great BJJ player.
About his growing interest in Jiu Jitsu:
Just, like I said, I want to work on my Jiu Jitsu. Since the eye injuries and some of my injuries I lost a little bit of desire for the fight. I had a lot of disappointments and lost, you know, some of the desire and the passion to go after the belt. Also, I don’t really want to do it for the money. You know, that’s why I’m doing this.
(About Copa Podio) I’m not getting paid to do this fight. It’s just for the heart, it’s just for the love of the game. And that’s really what I want to compete for. So, my love is here, coming to Brazil with the Brazilian people and doing the Copa Podio and seeing how I do, that’s what I want to do. You know what I mean? So, UFC is not what I really want to do. And no matter how much money they can pay me, I don’t want to do that right now. That’s just how it is.
In this cute video, Belcher demonstrates a rear naked choke on his baby daughter Ava. With a dad like that, chances are that Ava will train Jiu-Jitsu!
