Former UFC welterweight fighter Brian Foster (18-5) is set to enter the Bellator Fighting Championship cage on March 30, entering the promotion on a four fight win streak.After several setbacks, the young fighter is looking to send a message at Bellator 63 when he debuts in the opening round of the Bellator Season Six welterweight tournament.
Foster meets undefeated fighter David ‘The Caveman’ Rickels (8-0) in the quarterfinal match in Uncasville, Connecticut and wants to send a message to everyone at 170-lbs that “you can’t count anybody out.”
“After falling out of the game the way I fell out of it, coming out guns blazing is going to feel great,” Foster said. “My situation with the UFC created so much negative attention and speculation about my past injuries that people start to question your ability to overcome adversity. I’ve been proving people wrong my entire life, and proving to everyone who doubted my ability to keep my career flourishing has been a huge motivation throughout this entire process. Getting back in front of a crowd and on a stage like Bellator helps me accomplish my goal of showing people I’m not going anywhere and I can not only do this, but do it well.(Check out the full interview with Foster at Heavy.com)
“When I whip Rickels’s ass, it’s going to send a message that you can’t count anybody out. It’s also going to send a message to the UFC that you can’t just write people off. I’m not going to lose any sleep at night, but other people will. I got injured working hard in the sport that I love and found myself in a place where they didn’t want anything to do with me.
“The biggest thing I want to prove is I’m still here and I’m very much a threat to anyone I’m getting in there with. No matter how much of an underdog I’m made out to be, I still have that chance – and that is all I’ve ever had since becoming a professional fighter. Over all of that time I haven’t changed who I am a bit. I’m a warrior who is coming at you with everything I have. It’s a fight. I’m not a competitor. I’m not a performer. I’m a fighter. I’m coming out there with bad intentions, and that’s just the way it is.”
Foster was released from the UFC after a pre-fight medical showed a brain hemorrhage previous to a UFC 129 bout versus Sean Pierson. After successful brain surgery to repair the damage, he suffered a burst testicle during training and was sidelined once again. Since then he’s gone on to win twice this past October, winning both fights by first round submission.
In the Octagon, Foster was 3-2 with a “Fight of the Night” and a “Knockout of the Night” bonus.
