“I couldn’t get a fight,” LaFlare told Sporting News. “Was told I’d be on a card and then told nope and we’ll get you on the next one, which then sidelined me another six months. It was extremely frustrating. I contemplated not wanting to fight anymore. My drive for fighting, not that it died, but it was something so distant. It was like, “Am I going to fight again?”

“I almost forgot what it felt like to fight. I asked for a temporary release from Strikeforce for one fight, so I can just get my feet wet. They gave it to me. I booked a fight at the end of Oct. 2012. I prepared for this fight. I was fighting for the Ring of Combat title again. I sold a bunch of tickets and then Hurricane Sandy hit like a week before the fight and my fight got cancelled (laughs). I was like, “God doesn’t want me to fight.”

Most fighters after all of that happening and then getting the rug pulled out from under you, would have quit and found a day job. LaFlare didn’t want his career to end like that and thankfully for him, he took that fight for Ring of Combat.

“I would never end my career like that,” LaFlare said. “I was ready for the fight. I had an opponent, sold a bunch tickets, had sponsors and everything. They (Ring of Combat) rescheduled the fight for January (2013). I was very frustrated. I was telling my coaches, especially two weeks before the fight that your hungry. For them to say your fight was cancelled is very depressing.  Three months later, I was like fine, I’ll take this fight and we’ll see where I go from there. I took the fight, looked great, finished the guy in the third round and dominated the fight the whole time. On the way home from that fight, I got a call from World Series of Fighting offering me a fight against Josh Burkman. I was like fine, now we’re talking. I signed with WSOF and like two days after that, the UFC was like your still under contract with us, we’ll take you. So then, I signed with the UFC a week after that. That motivation just picked right up.”

Going through all that adversity and taking a fight he didn’t have to take that got the undefeated LaFlare right back on track and find that love for fighting once again. The UFC immediately booked his debut against Ben Alloway in Sweden in April of 2013.

“I didn’t feel wanted in Strikeforce when they wouldn’t give me a fight,” LaFlare said. “I know that feeling. Even though the fight was in Sweden, I was just happy to take it. It was awesome, I was pumped. All that momentum came back to me.”

Steven Muehlhausen is a boxing and MMA writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA.