After Exiting Bellator, Ulysses Gomez Has His Eyes Set on Conquering the Flyweight Division

http://mmaweekly.com/after-exiting-bellator-ulysses-gomez-has-his-eyes-set-on-conquering-the-flyweight-division

by Damon Martin

Las Vegas based fighter Ulysses Gomez figured out after only one fight at 135 pounds that he wants to stick around the flyweight division.

Gomez was a participant in last year’s bantamweight tournament with Bellator Fighting Championships, but after a win over Travis Reddinger in September, he was unable to continue on after contracting a staph infection.

Since that time, Gomez has actually moved on from Bellator Fighting Championships because as he learned from his one fight at bantamweight, he wants to be at 125 pounds.

“The thing with Bellator, they offered me to fight at 135, and that’s not my natural weight class. I prefer to fight at 125, but I was like it’s on TV, it’s a great show Bellator, and it’s a lot of exposure. I fought, and I didn’t really like the way I performed in the fight, I felt like I could have done a lot better. Nothing against Travis, but I felt like I should have beaten him more convincingly that I did,” Gomez told MMAWeekly.com.

“I felt more comfortable at 125, and we asked Bellator if they were going to do a 125-pound division, and they were like ‘no’ and they gave me the option to get out of my contract.”

While Gomez remains on good terms with Bellator and enjoyed his time there, he knew that to continue his career on a successful path, he needed to be at a weight class that suited him.

“I don’t want to go out on national TV and put on another bad fight,” Gomez intimated. “I think 125′s a better weight class for me, so that’s kind of what they did for me.”

As of now, Bellator has not made any kind of announcement of an intention to do a 125-pound weight class, so Gomez will move onto other opportunities.

The first of those opportunities will come on Feb. 18 when he returns to Tachi Palace Fights to defend the flyweight title he won there, and now defends against Darrell Montague.

“It was a cool experience fighting for Bellator, and I really appreciated the chance they gave me. I like Tachi, they’ve always taken care of me. I know everybody there, it just feels like I’m coming back home,” Gomez explained.

As the champion at Tachi Palace Fights, Gomez ranks near the top for anyone discussing the flyweight division. As the 125-pound fighters gain more recognition, he hopes to have more chances to prove himself against the best in the world.

Of course it can’t be ignored that the UFC also plans on housing a flyweight division at some point in 2011, and if that happens, Gomez might be on a short list of fighters to get the chance to introduce the world to the 125-pound division.

“As far as the future goes, my whole thing is take it one fight at a time. There’s a fight in front of me right now, I’ve got to get past him,” Gomez said. “If Bellator ever does a 125-pound division, I’m all for it. If the UFC opens it up, I’m down for the opportunity, but right now it’s just about the fight that’s in front of me.”

Gomez returns to action on Feb. 18 to face Montague in the co-main event of the Tachi Palace Fights show in Lemoore, Calif.