Alan Belcher: I Can Beat Anderson Silva, I Want To Be On The Main Card!

From the way I see it, UFC 107 should be renamed Frank Mir: The Man and his Mouth .

He's been running his mouth about how French striker Cheick Kongo is "not on the level that [he] is," and how the fight will end as soon as Kongo's back even grazes the mat.

Then he said he will kindly stop his rambling since it is unfair for Kongo who has a "language barrier."

Last time Mir tried to aggravate his opponent, I remember he got a sound beating from current champion Brock Lesnar.

But there is one more fighter who thinks he deserves a little more attention and respect (and camera-time), and it is Alan "The Talent" Belcher (14-6).

In a recent interview with Sherdog.com during the UFC 107 open work-out, Belcher took his time to express his dissatisfaction in being pulled down to the undercard.

"Some people get 1, 2 wins and go right into title-contention." Belcher said. "If I win this fight [with Wilson Gouveia] I will be getting 6 wins out of 7."

Belcher's calculation (even if he wins against Gouveia) is still wrong.

Belcher's last fight was at UFC 100 against Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama.

The tall kickboxer gave the Korean-Japanese judoka one hell of a fight, but Akiyama got the split-decision. Aftewards, Akiyama was hospitalized due to a broken orbital bone.

So he would have won 5 out of 7 fights: his two losses were to Akiyama and Jason Day (a TKO loss) a year ago.

My only guess is that Belcher still refuses to accept his split-decision loss against Akiyama. That would have him winning 6 out of 7 fights.

Nonetheless, Belcher remains extremely confident and focused.

Here are some bits and pieces from the interview which I found quite interesting.

"I think I can beat everybody in the division. I can beat Anderson Silva."

"I am dangerous in striking. If I wasn't doing MMA, I would be at the top of boxing or kickboxing. The strikers on UFC are not on my level. I just have a natural ability."

"I don't need to train striking. I love the art of striking and I have a passion for it."

But what Belcher really wants is this:

"I deserve to be on a poster next time."

What do I think of The Talent? First off, I really wish him good luck in his fight against Gouveia, who is a lethal striker himself.

Do I think he's a match for Anderson Silva? I'd say NO, but I am sure Belcher doesn't give a damn about my opinion.

This is a man who decided to put on his left arm one of the weirdest tatooes in MMA history. The tatoo, which is allegedly a face of (a morbidly obese) Johnny Cash, comes to life everytime Belcher throws a left straight.

The face literally squints and grunts.

But I do think Belcher being relegated to the preliminary card is a bit too much.

His fight in UFC 100 was no doubt the best bout of the event (he won Fight of the Night honors for his effort); fighting on the biggest card in UFC history to participating in the undercard is not an easy transition to make.

Belcher has a reason to be angry. He has a motivation to perform well on Saturday.