Just four months after he became champion, Alan Belcher has been stripped of his BKFC heavyweight title.
BKFC president David Feldman announced the news on Tuesday.
Just recently, Belcher signed onto participate in a boxing match against Hasim Rahman Jr. as part of the upcoming Misfits Boxing event scheduled on July 22. It appears that fight interfered with plans that BKFC had for Belcher and the defense of his heavyweight title.
Rather than crowning an interim champion, BKFC stripped Belcher’s title and a fight to determine a new heavyweight king will be determined in the coming weeks.
Despite Belcher being stripped of his title, the 38-year-old UFC veteran will remain on the BKFC roster and he’s still expected to compete there at a later date.
Belcher’s resurgence as a bare-knuckle fighter happened after he came out of retirement following more than five years out of action. After primarily competing at 185 pounds during his MMA career, Belcher returned as a sizable heavyweight where he promptly picked up three wins in a row including a pair of knockouts to earn a shot at BKFC gold.
Belcher captured the title with a third-round knockout over ex-champion Arnold Adams.
Since that time there had been rumors swirling that Belcher would get matched up with fellow UFC veteran Ben Rothwell but the fight never materialized.
Now Belcher will pursue his boxing match in July while BKFC moves forward with plans to crown a new heavyweight champion in the near future.
