Just four months after his reign, Alain Belcher was stripped of his BKFC heavyweight title.
BKFC President David Feldman announced the news on Tuesday.
Recently, Belcher signed on to participate in a boxing match against Hashem Rehman Jr. as part of the upcoming Misfits Boxing event scheduled for July 22nd. The fight seemed to have interfered with the plans BKFC had for Belcher and his heavyweight title defense.
Instead of crowning an interim champion, BKFC stripped Belcher of the title and a fight to determine a new heavyweight king will be scheduled in the coming weeks.
Despite Belcher being stripped of his title, the 38-year-old UFC veteran will remain on the BKFC roster and is still expected to compete there at a later date.
Belcher’s comeback as a naked fighter occurred after he came out of retirement after more than five years on the job. After primarily competing at 185 pounds during his MMA career, Belcher returned as a super heavyweight where he immediately racked up three straight wins including a pair of knockouts to earn a shot at BKFC gold.
Belcher secured the title with a third-round knockout over former champion Arnold Adams.
Since that time, there have been rumors circulating that Belcher would meet fellow veteran Ben Rothwell, but the fight never materialised.
Now Belcher will continue his boxing career in July while BKFC moves forward with plans to crown a new heavyweight champion in the near future.