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After suffering the first loss of his career to Sean Strickland earlier this year at UFC 199, Tom Breese decided it was time for a change.



Having moved to Montreal, Canada, to train at the famous Tristar gym in May 2015, Breese decided to return to his native Birmingham, England, to resume his development.



"I've been training, working hard and just getting myself settled back at home," Breese said. "I said to myself when I came back to England that I'd take my time and not rush into another camp. I wanted to make sure I was settled first and comfortable with everything before taking a fight. I feel I'm at that point now and I can't wait to get back in there and fight.



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"All my training is set up and it's great. To be honest, I'm just loving life at the moment I'm really happy. I'm looking forward to really get back into the thick of things after I've done some grappling tournaments."



Moving to middleweight

Since returning to England, Breese has reflected on his recent performances at welterweight and decided to make the move up to middleweight. The British prospect described the extent of his weight cutting to make 170 pounds and how he felt it affected his performance on fight night.



"I spoke to a few people about it, but ultimately it was my decision," Breese said. "I was asking a lot of other fighters what they walked around at and I just weighed things up in my head. I just realized that I am too big for welterweight. There is no one my size at welterweight, and there is no one walking around at the same weight as me.



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"I've trained with middleweight before and felt strong. The cut down to welterweight was affecting me more than I think I realized, especially in my last two performances. In the (Cathal) Pendred fight, the cut was tough because I cut a lot of water, but I got back in there heavy at like 192 pounds. I then started dieting a lot beforehand so I didn't have to cut that water and I got back in there at like 184 and 185-pounds. I was just going in there really gaunt and not as strong.



"I walk around at like 205 pounds," Breese said. "The eight weeks of dieting and water cutting was just getting too much. It would spend so much effort making weight and not on the actual fight."



The middleweight division not a daunting task

Breese is aware that the combination of him coming off a loss and entering a new weight division may mean he must start from the bottom and work his way back up the ladder. While he's aware of that, he still has his eyes on the best in the division and fancies he can do some real damage on the top 10 as soon as he's given the chance.



"I'm probably going to have to start at the bottom of the division, but I don't think it's that strong to be honest," Breese said. "Uriah Hall is ranked number 10 in the division, and I think I'd beat him right now. I'd get rid of him--I'd stop him. It'd be a great fight, but I know I'll likely have to get one before that and work my way up. I'd love that fight, though.



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"I'll fight anyone. My dream fight in the division would be someone like [Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza]. I'd love to fight someone like him, but I know that's a while off. I think the middleweight division is weaker than the welterweight division. Name-wise it may compete, but no way skill-wise."



The two sides of Elias Theodorou

If Breese is to start with an opponent outside the top 15, one option could be Elias Theodorou. Breese recently took issue with the Canadian on Twitter when Theodorou took over the UFC's account and proceeded to poke fun at some of the fighters competing on a recent UFC Fight Night. Suffice to say, Breese didn't believe these were actions of a professional.



"I thought it was ridiculous," Breese said. "The UFC account should be professionally run and promoting all fighters. We shouldn't have a clown on there disrespecting the fighters and calling them 'Stumpy' and stuff. This is a professional sport, and he's just a f**king clown.



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"I've trained with the guy and he's OK in person, but he needs to keep the clown stuff to his own account. The way I looked at it is, if I was fighting and some idiot that wasn't even in my division was on the UFC account making fun of me, I'd find it offensive. Like I said, I've trained with him, and I can't say a bad thing about him in person. The way he conducts himself on the internet is different, though."



A busy schedule to end 2016

While Breese likely won't making a return to the UFC Octagon until early 2017, his end-of-year schedule isn't a quiet one. The man from Birmingham will be testing his BJJ skills against the best in the world, both in England and across the pond.



"On EBI 9 I'm going to be part of a 16-man tournament, and it's at 205-pounds so there will be big guys. I know Vinny Magalhaes is on there, Gordon Ryan, Daniel Strauss--a very good grappler from the UK. It's going to be really good, and I'm very excited for it."



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"Once I've done EBI, I'm going to contact the UFC and tell them I'm ready to go. I'd like to fight end of January or early February, but if they are back in the U.K. around then, I'd love to be on that card."