After turning his attention to other combat sports, Jim Alers is set to make his MMA return after more than three years away.
Alers (14-4-1) will participate in Combate Global’s USA vs. Mexico one-night, eight man tournament Friday in Miami. In his quarterfinal bout, Alers meets fellow American Enrique Gonzalez.
The 35-year-old has seen it all. A former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, Alers never quite got rolling in the UFC. He went 1-2-1 in the promotion, and his lone win came over Alan Omer in his debut. Following his UFC release, Alers went 1-1 in a move back up to lightweight, but found himself removing his gloves for some bareknuckle action.
He had massive success with four straight wins and three finishes before a loss to Luis Palomino, and now he’s challenging himself in new ways by jumping in the Combate Global tournament on short notice.
“I’m definitely fighting three times in one night,” Alers told MMA Junkie Radio. “I don’t see myself losing this at all, so you’ll definitely see me three times.
“I’m just a guy that has always said I want to do it all, and that’s why you’ve seen me in bareknuckle, combat jiu-jitsu. I don’t want to be a one-trick pony. I want to say I’m a true combat veteran – not just an MMA fighter or this, or that, and three times in one night, not too many people in modern-day MMA can say they’ve done that. I grew up watching PRIDE and UFC back in those days and seen those guys fight multiple times was just something crazy to me, and here I am, getting the chance to do the same.”
Alers isn’t concerned about any potential ring rust because though he’s been away from the cage since August 2018, he hasn’t stopped competing and honing his skills in individual aspects of the sport.
“Even though I haven’t fought MMA in three years, I’ve been very active and very busy,” Alers said. “I kind of went back to my roots in that jiu-jitsu world and fighting at very high-level events, and then also showing the world that I’ve got some hands, also, going 4-1 in bareknuckle.
“I jumped in probably on two weeks’ notice on this, but I’m always training. I’m always ready, so it wasn’t like anything crazy. I’m pretty much on weight already, too.”
