Following the first loss of his professional MMA career, it seems former Bellator middleweight champ Brandon Halsey (9-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) may be moving up a division to 205 pounds.

Bellator President Scott Coker told MMAjunkie that he talked to Halsey following a surprising loss to Rafael Carvalho at Friday night’s Bellator 144 event and believes “Bull” is heading to light heavyweight.

“I was just talking to Halsey, and he was saying that when he was trying to go for the takedown and control him, he said he felt very weak,” Coker said. “So he thinks that it’s a weight issue for him and that he has to go up in weight to be competitive because there’s too much of a cut for him, so you might see him at 205 here in the near future.”

A former collegiate wrestling All-American, Halsey debuted for Bellator in 2013 with just two professional MMA bouts to his credit. He then racked up seven consecutive wins, including a September 2014 destruction of Alexander Shlemenko, which took just 35 seconds, to claim Bellator’s middleweight title.

In May, Halsey was stripped of the belt when he failed to make weight for a Bellator 137 title defense against longtime MMA veteran Kendall Grove. Halsey returned to action on Friday and was granted an opportunity to regain his title, but Carvalho proved too much, scoring a TKO win with a second-round liver shot.

Halsey wasn’t immediately available for comment, and his next bout has yet to be revealed.

“Bellator 144: Halsey vs. Carvalho” took place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

For more on Bellator 144, check out the MMA Events section of the site.