For those who wanted to see Heather Hardy back in the Bellator cage, the bad news is that it won’t happen any time this year.

That’s because, despite coming out victorious of her title boxing match with Shelly Vincent this past Saturday, Hardy was left with some stitches and won’t be able to spar for at least another month, meaning December is too soon for a return to either the cage or the ring.

But the good news is that Hardy (22-0 boxing, 2-1 MMA) is not done with MMA. In fact, “Heat” says her plan was to compete at Bellator 208, which took place in New York earlier this month. But then a chance to fight for the WBO featherweight world title came up and she made the “tough decision” to go with that instead.

It paid off, we’d say. But in order to get her back into the ring, Hardy says, the opportunity will have to be just as special.

“A lot of people were asking, like, are you done with MMA?” Hardy told Luke Thomas at Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. “And the answer is no. I’m not done with anything. I’m taking the rest of my career one fight at a time, because I want to see what the best option is for me. I’m not going to do any more boxing fights unless they’re for a world title.

“There are three more world titles out there I want to unify. If I can’t get a fight with any of those girls, it’s going to be hard-pressed to see me back in a boxing ring.”

Hardy hasn’t competed in MMA since February, when she earned a unanimous-decision win over fellow boxer-turned-MMA fighter Ana Julaton at Bellator 194. The lackluster bout was later criticized, but for Hardy it meant recovery from a somewhat gruesome upset loss to Kristina Williams at Bellator 185. Hardy is now 2-1 in pro MMA, all for Bellator.

While MMA has officially been a 17-month venture for Hardy, she’s been competing in pro boxing for more than six years. On Saturday, her first world title also meant a 22nd win in an unblemished record.

As for how the two experiences stack up?

“Boxing is my comfort zone, it’s home to me,” Hardy said. “That’s the best way to put it, it’s like a dance. A performance, right? Like, I’m in there to show you I’m better. I learned, after my first MMA fight, that boxing and MMA are two different. You don’t try to win an MMA fight – it was more like trying to survive and beat the girl up worse than she beats me up.

“And I don’t take my boxing in the same way. I go in the ring and I don’t feel like I’m ever going to get beat up. I’m going to make you look silly.”

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.