Tamdan McCrory has put his MMA career on hold twice.

The first break ran from November 2007 through August 2008. McCrory used that time to finish up his kinesiology degree at The State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland. The second pause in McCrory’s career lasted more than five years.

That lengthy break began in early August 2009 when he dropped a split decision to John Howard at UFC 101. After the loss, McCrory was released by the UFC after going 3-3 with the promotion. He would not return to fighting until September 5, 2014, when he knocked out Brennan Ward (9-3 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) in 21 seconds at Bellator 123.

When asked what he’d been up to during that five-year stretch, the 28-year-old McCrory (12-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) repeated the question aloud and let out a small chuckle before taking a breath and laying things out.

“I’ve been up to a lot of things. I got married, had a kid, been training, some business ventures, and had some injuries that set me back,” McCrory told MMAJunkie.

Most significantly, McCrory said the layoff was a matter of momentum – or lack thereof. The fighter who goes by the memorable nickname “Barn Cat” said he was always thinking of returning to the cage, but he just couldn’t get find the much-needed momentum to get there. When he finally did find himself ready to roll, in spring 2013, that’s when the driver of another car rear-ended McCrory. The accident halted his comeback and sent him into surgery.

“Life isn’t always kind to you in regards to circumstance,” said McCrory, who takes the next step when he meets Jason Butcher (8-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) on Feb. 27 at Bellator 134, which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Spike TV following prelims, including McCrory-Butcher, on Spike.com

In January 2014, after a long rehab, McCrory was given the green light to get back to competitive training. Back in fighting shape, McCrory and his manager, Jimmy Binns Jr., set about looking for a home for the former UFC fighter. That search proved difficult.

“My manager and I were at odds a little bit because I was ready to get back in there and we couldn’t find the right promotion,” McCrory said. “We couldn’t find a purse that made sense, and it was a lot of headaches and bullsh-t. A lot of times, you’d be making some headway and then all of a sudden your opponent says they aren’t fighting or no one wants to fight because it’s summertime. It was just a headache, and right at the end of that, when we were at odds, he said, ‘Here’s the opportunity,’ and I was like, ‘My man.'”

That opportunity came from Bellator. Ward, coming off a loss to then-Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko, needed a late replacement opponent after the promotion removed James Irvin from their Bellator 123 fight.

On paper, it looked like McCrory was being led to the abattoir. He was a former welterweight coming off a five-year layoff to face the winner of the Season 9 Bellator middleweight tournament. He was, in the minds of many, a fighter brought in to boost Ward’s confidence and get him back in the mix.

McCrory didn’t see it that way.

“It was not necessarily a big risk, because if you fight and you lose, you did what people expected,” he said. “You’re out for five years, you have a lot of ring rust – it was just too much, too soon. But if you clobber this guy, everyone’s just going to think, ‘man, you’re the shit.’ You take five years off and just start clobbering heads, people are going to wake up. Everyone loves a comeback, but I don’t want to call it a comeback, it’s just another chapter to me.”

It turned out to be a very short chapter. When McCrory, the underdog, knocked out Ward, he let the fighting world know that he was back and he was going to be a player in the middleweight division.

“I’ve always been an underdog and I don’t mind playing that role,” McCrory said. “I’m going to keep being the underdog until I’m the top dog.”

As for how he felt in his first fight at 185 pounds after 14 fights at welterweight, McCrory was not ready to offer his full opinion.

“I don’t know. I only got 21 seconds out there. I’m not the biggest 185-pounder, but I’m definitely not the smallest,” he said. “It’s tough to compare, you’re going back to over five years ago. Not only have I changed physically, but my skill set has changed so much as well.”

The biggest benefit, said the 6-foot-4 McCrory, who plans on staying at 185, is that he no longer has to worry about cutting 16 pounds in the 24 hours prior to a fight.

Now that he is back in the fighting game and chugging along with the momentum he previously lacked, McCrory plans on making a run for Bellator gold.

“The goal is to get to the top,” he said. “When people ask if I want to fight for the title, why the hell else would I do it? I’ll gladly just smash heads and cash checks, but if you get some gold strapped around your waist and you get some publicity, you make a different life for yourself at that point.

“I definitely see myself in that title run. Maybe not in the next two fights, but it’s just a matter of time. When you’re on a mission to the top, it’s hard to derail that train and that’s where I’m headed.”