Tamdan McCrory Re-Signs With UFC — ‘The Barn Cat’ Refuses Bellator MMA Title Shot To Return To Dana White

Ever since UFC penned an exclusive deal with Reebok, there has been concern among many MMA fighters who work under the promotion pertaining to pay. It is often argued that said deal only works for the top five fighters ranked in their respective division. Anyone else will just have to struggle to get by. Ergo, some of the MMA fighters have jumped ship to other promotions, seeing it an opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. This includes “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis and Josh “The Punk” Thomson, two MMA fighters who left UFC to join Bellator MMA.

However, not everyone sees UFC as a promotion void of opportunity. Tamdan McCrory just recently re-signed with them again. As a matter of fact, “The Barn Cat” was so adamant to return to Dana White’s good graces, he actually refused a Bellator MMA title shot.

According to Fight of the Night, Tamdan McCrory re-signed with UFC, six years after he was released from the promotion back in 2009. He had a memorable stint with them despite his record being 3-3 with them at the time. This is because McCrory had a gawky appearance complete with bifocals. Ergo, McCrory looked more like a librarian than a fighter.

Nevertheless, after he was released from UFC, Tamdan McCrory seem to go off the grid for five years until he made his return in Bellator MMA last year, as reported by Cage Potato. During his run with Scott Coker’s promotion, he has impressed fans with a first round KO victory over Brennan Ward followed by a first round armbar submission victory over Jason Butcher. The latter victory’s video is attached below.

Apparently, Tamdan McCrory’s performance was enough for UFC to want to re-sign him. For McCrory, this must have been the opportunity he wanted because, as mentioned earlier, he turned down an opportunity for the Bellator MMA title.

“I left a title shot in [Bellator] to come to the UFC. If I wanted to win that belt I could have stayed and done it, but I wanted to be back in the sport of MMA, not the MMA entertainment business.”

In conclusion, the MMA community — especially fans of “The Barn Cat” — will see if Tamdan McCrory made the right decision. He was only average during his first run in UFC with an equal number of victories as well as defeats. Yet, much can change within a span of six years.

[Image via Sherdog]