THE CANADIAN PRESS

Mixed martial arts can do more than offer a glimpse into a man's soul. It can offer an up-close-and-personal look at his skull.

Thanks to Alan (The Talent) Belcher, Canadian middleweight Kalib Starnes had his forehead split open like an overcooked turkey last October at UFC 77 in Cincinnati. Belcher won on a second-round doctor's stoppage -- "That was one of the biggest cuts I had ever opened on someone," he said later. -- and Starnes lost track of the stitches that followed.

"I didn't really count them all, but about 20 to 30," he explained from his training base in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "There were two layers -- because it went to the bone. They stitched the meat underneath and then they stitched the skin over top of it."

To make matters worse, the gash got infected. Starnes ended up having to take 2 1-2 months off, working his way through a diet of antibiotics. "Because it's in your head and kind of near your eye, they took it pretty seriously," he explained.

The cut swelled up, opened and had to be drained. "It wasn't very pleasant."

Did it mar his good looks? "Well, not in my opinion," Starnes said with a chuckle.

Repaired and ready, Starnes takes on Nate (Rock) Quarry at UFC 83 at Montreal's Bell Centre on April 19. Quarry is also coming off a punishing bout, but unlike Starnes, he won -- rallying from a rocky start to KO Pete Sell early in the third round last September.

"I was beaten up pretty good," Quarry said from Portland. "I don't much feel pain when I'm in the fight but literally as soon as my foot stepped out of the cage, my head felt like my brain was about two sizes too big for the skull. He landed a lot of strikes. Yeah, it did some damage to me, but nothing that couldn't get healed up over a few weeks time."

Both men are looking to make their mark. A good showing in Montreal and the winner moves up the food chain in a middleweight division that apart from champion Anderson Silva is one of the weakest in the UFC.

"That's a really great fight right there, I love that fight," said UFC president Dana White.

"He is a great jiu-jitsu guy, great on the ground and his standup has improved a lot," White said of Starnes.

"Nate's a tough guy, very good, very well-rounded."

Quarry (14-2) is 4-1 in the UFC but the one loss was a devastating first-round knockout at the hands of then champion Rich Franklin, at UFC 56 in November 2005. It makes for an ugly highlight reel, with Quarry toppling like he was strapped to a board -- not to mention a smashed nose. Quarry did not fight for another 22 months, undergoing serious spinal fusion surgery to correct a longtime back problem.

Quarry had been plagued by "nagging, constant back pain." He would take anti-inflammatories and Aspirin to get through training but it got so bad that he couldn't lean over to wash his face in the sink. He had to support himself with one hand and use the other to scoop water onto his face. He couldn't even pick up his daughter.

Today, he says the back is a strength, not a weakness.

Quarry, 36, came to cage fighting late in life after growing up in Salem, Ore., as a Jehovah's Witness, a religion that spurns organized sports. It wasn't until he was 24, old enough to make his own decisions, that he found a sport that spoke to him -- mixed martial arts.

He was part of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, coming across as one of the more grounded fighters in the cast. But an ankle injury eventually consigned him to a coaching role.

Starnes (10-3-1) appeared on Season 3 of the show, losing to Kendall Grove in a semifinal bout in which he was slowed by a rib injury. Today he is 2-2 in the UFC, with the other loss courtesy of powerful 185-pound title contender Yushin Okami. His UFC account also includes a decision over hard-nosed Chris Leben.

Starnes, 33, is a talented jiu-jitsu fighter, who has devoted much of his training recently to his standup game, working with former Olympic champion Howard Davis Jr. Those boxing skills will be challenged by Quarry, a well-rounded fighter who is very comfortable on his feet.

The Surrey, B.C., native will be looking to showcase his skills against Quarry after the untimely end to the Belcher bout.

"It was very disappointing. I had a lot more to give," said Starnes, whose own history of injuries includes a fractured fibula, broken nose, rib injury, jawbone infection and torn shoulder muscle.

"It's always disappointing to have a fight end on a cut like that. I left there and still could have gone on. I didn't feel tired, I didn't feel injured in any way. I mean a cut doesn't hurt."

Not unless you were looking at it that night.