Alberto Crane Rolling, Wants Back in UFC

Tuesday, March 03, 2009 - Mick Hammond - MMAWeekly.com

Lightweight Alberto Crane will be the first to tell you that his initial Ultimate Fighting Championship run was a disappointment on many levels.

After a stellar start to his career, which saw him win his first eight fights en route to the King of the Cage 155-pound title, Crane lost back-to-back fights in the UFC to Roger Huerta and Kurt Pellegrino.

Just as quickly as he had arrived, six months after his UFC debut, he was released from the company.

After losing his first fight outside of the promotion, he has managed to find himself once again on solid ground, winning four fights in a row, including this past weekend’s first round submission victory over Eric Regan for Rage in the Cage.

“For this last fight I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever felt,” admitted Crane of his win over Regan. “I finally feel like a seasoned mixed martial arts fighter.

“I feel great and I want to get back to the UFC, get back up into the big show and keep fighting and winning.”

Crane's hopeful return to the promotion he has always strived to be a part of will go much differently than his first run, as he feels he is a far superior fighter today compared to just one year ago.

“When I fought in the UFC I was coming off a long break and really didn’t have a team to train with,” he stated. “That’s different now. I have my team that I’m training with, and combined with me fighting consistently, I’m100-percent (different) mentally, physically, everything.”

Developing areas such as his striking has allowed Crane to evolve into a more complete mixed martial artist.

“I feel like I’m a lot better taking the fight to where I need to take it to win it,” he commented. “I’m not one-dimensional.”

His hard work shows through, especially so in his recent performance against Eric Regan where, after a brief exchange, Crane took the fight to the mat and used a combination of effective ground-and-pound and his exceptional submission game to quickly finish off his veteran opponent.

“It was a perfect fight,” he exclaimed. “I didn’t take any damage at all, and that makes it easy. I’m definitely ready for bigger challenges, and I’m excited to do that this year.”

As Crane puts it, it’s time to step back up to the highest level of MMA this year after a year away.

“I’ve always wanted to fight in the UFC, and that was always my goal,” he stated. “If it doesn’t happen, I’ll have to keep my options open.

“I’d like to fight here locally in California, but I’d like to get back in the big show. Whatever happens I want to stay active and see what happens.”

With four wins in a row, it would be hard to imagine that Crane would have to wait much longer to get his shot at the top, a shot he intends to make go much differently the second time around.

“I want to thank Adam Roseman with ARC Investment Partners, Barmarq Manfoorian with Forza Silicon, Clinch Gear and Legacy Mixed Martial Arts,” he concluded.

“People didn’t see the real Alberto Crane when I fought in the UFC. I’m going to show them the real Alberto Crane coming this year.”