Andres Alcantar ‘Really Looking for the Knockout’ Against Jordan Powell at LFA 51

While injuries or lack of opportunity are most often the culprits which cause a fighter to miss significant amounts of time from active competition, for heavyweight Andres Alcantar it has been a much different story.

Since picking up his fourth win to start his career in August of 2016, Alcantar spent much of his time battling mental demons before finally overcoming them and preparing for his comeback.

“To be honest and truthful I kind of got hit with depression,” Alcantar told MMAWeekly.com. “I was just kind of dealing with things, but with the help of positive people and my wife helping me out and everything uplifting me spiritually helped me get out of that slump.

“Since then I got back into training. This is what I love. I love MMA. I love training. I see a lot of guys that I made my debut with, and I know with the way that I fight I should be there too. I’m ready to get back in. I have this opportunity with the LFA and I’m going for it.”

It was Alcantar’s love of fighting that made it so even in the darkest of times he never considered leaving the sport.

“In the back of my mind I thought I was going to come back to it, but looking at it realistically it looked like an impossible task,” said Alcantar. “There were things getting in the way, and circumstances, but then things re-aligned thanks to God.

“Things fell in place like my work schedule and training camp-wise; it was just great timing.”

On Friday in Fresno, Calif., Alcantar (4-0) will make his return to fighting when he takes on Jordan Powell (9-7) in an LFA 51 main card heavyweight bout.

This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com