THE CANADIAN PRESS
CINCINNATI — Canadian fighter Kalib Starnes hopes for some payback Saturday at UFC 77.
A quid pro quo for spending four months training in Florida away from his five-year-old daughter back in Vancouver. Something in return for getting up, going to the gym and then coming home at night alone before doing it all over again the next day.
"It’s not a lot of fun, it’s a lot of strain," Starnes said of being separated from his daughter. "It’s quite lonely (in Fort Lauderdale where he trains at the American Top Team gym when not at his own Revolution Martial Arts gym in Vancouver). I live a very spartan lifestyle … Not much of a social life. I miss my daughter quite a bit."
Starnes, 32, isn’t complaining, just stating facts. It’s the life of a mixed martial arts fighter. And as the middleweight prepares to step into the cage Saturday night at UFC 77 against Alan (The Talent) Belcher, he already feels the results of his hard work.
"Right now the fun that I’m getting is watching myself develop and the satisfaction of going in there and knowing that I’ve improved," he explained. "It’s one thing to be a confident man because you just believe in yourself, or you’ve got religion or you’ve got something that you think is going to make you come out on top.
"It’s another thing to be confident in yourself because you’ve actually proven to yourself, every time that you go in there, that you’re improving."
Starnes did just that in May at UFC 71 against Chris Leben, winning a decision and showing he could stay on his feet against a hard-headed striker. That’s huge for a fighter known primarily for his grappling skills.
Starnes, who entered the UFC via Season 3 of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show, has 13 years of jiu-jitsu under his belt and more than five of wrestling. Boxing was his Achilles heel.
Down in Florida, he has been looking to change that, staying and training with former Olympic boxing champion Howard Davis Jr.
"I’ve made big improvement in my boxing and kick boxing and that’s an area of my game I neglected a little bit, so I’ve been focusing a lot on that," Starnes said.
He will need it against the 23-year-old Belcher, whose striking game is excellent.
Light-heavyweight Eric Schafer, who fights Stephan Bonnar on Saturday’s card, has been training with Belcher. Schafer, a jiu-jitsu specialist, has been playing the part of Starnes for Belcher in the gym while Belcher serves as a Bonnar clone for Schafer.
"I think he (Belcher) wants to keep it on the feet and his striking is tough," Schafer offered. "He’s been rattling my jaw about a lot lately. So I think if he can keep it on the feet, which I think he can, he’s going to win. I’m predicting a TKO in maybe the second round. But I have a lot of respect for Kalib too."
Starnes is 2-1 in the UFC in the 185-pound weight class with the lone loss coming to Japan’s Yushin Okami, who fights Jason MacDonald of Red Deer, Alta., on Saturday’s card.
Belcher, who has also lost to Okami, is 2-2 in the UFC. His last fight was a 53-second submission of Sean Salmon in a light-heavyweight bout he took at short notice, also at UFC 71.
At 6-3, Starnes is an inch taller than Belcher. But he expects the American to be bigger in the ring. The Canadian has been walking around at 198 pounds in recent months while Belcher has fought at 205.
"When I saw him after the Leben fight, I was impressed by his size," said Starnes.
"When I look at him I see a young guy who’s very explosive," he added. "He’s a big man, 6-2, walks around about 215 or so, 220, quite a good size. And he still maintains his explosiveness at that weight and size, which means he’ll be able to hit quite hard and pull out of things and be a difficult person to keep control of, even in a grappling situation. So I don’t take him lightly at all.
"From what I’ve seen, he’s improved in his ground game and his wrestling. I expect him to be in good shape as well because he is a young man still, his conditioning is probably quite good. I’ve seen him in bouts before where he’s got a little tired. Usually an athlete learns from that and doesn’t want that to happen again. I know that’s been my experience."
Starnes sees his lighter weight in recent months as a plus. He says he has not lost any speed and notes it helps make cutting weight easier.
MacDonald, who lost to Starnes prior to his UFC days, says the Starnes-Belcher bout is hard to call. He says he’s been impressed with Belcher, despite some uneven showings, and is looking forward to the matchup of the striker (Belcher) against the grappler (Starnes).
"Starnes showed in his fight against Leben that he wasn’t afraid to stand up and trade. I think if he does that against Alan Belcher, it’s not going to be such a great night for him," MacDonald said. "And likewise, if Kalib comes out there and decides to take the fight down to the ground, I think he has the skills and capability definitely to submit Belcher and come away with the victory.
"I guess I’m sitting on the fence on that one."
Starnes made US$10,000 for his win over Leben, not counting an undisclosed bonus for earning the fight of the night award. That bonus was worth $40,000 to each fighter at the last UFC card.
