Virgil Zwicker on why he plans to stay with Bellator for the duration of his career

Tonight, in Temecula, CA, Virgil Zwicker and Houston Alexander will once again throw dukes in the rematch to their first fight, which ended in a controversial draw this past October. Zwicker had taken the fight on a week's notice, but was doing well in the cage, giving Alexander a very tough fight. So tough that Houston decided headbutts might be the best way to dispatch his opponent.

After repeatedly "fighting for head control" as he explained it in interviews after the bout, the referee took a point away from Houston, forcing the draw. Many felt it should have been a disqualification, but there is a silver lining in that Virgil has had a full training camp and is fired up to exact his vengeance.

In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Zwicker discussed Alexander's unorthodox tactics and why he is perfectly content to stay with Bellator for the remainder of his career, under the care of one of the two most beloved promoters in MMA, Scott Coker (Shannon Knapp occupies the other top spot).

It was frustrating for me after the fight because he said in interviews that I had bitten him. He said that I was acting and that I was faking. It was crazy. This time will be different. I have had a full fight camp and the fight is in my back yard. Now he'll be seeing the man he should have seen the first time. He'll have his hands full to the point where his headbutts won't matter.

I should make one thing clear, though. I don't have any hard feelings toward him. I think he was just frustrated that he didn't really know what to do with me.

As soon as I went to the back after that fight, I asked the matchmaker right away for a rematch. I told him I didn't care where it was, my town, his town, I just wanted the fight. They gave me tickets to the event they had recently in San Diego and when I was there, they told me to be ready in January, that they had something for me. Two days later, my manager called me and let me know that Bellator really wanted to make this fight, and so here we are.

The fight makes sense. It ended in a draw and the headbutts...I'm just glad it got booked. I've been training like a mad man for it and I'll be ready for whatever he brings to the table. I haven't been in this good of shape in a long time. I don't have injuries, my health has been perfect and my support group is excellent. I'm so motivated for this fight. I want to make my stamp on the sport this year.

While most fighters dream of fighting for the UFC as their ultimate career goal, the 32 year-old California native says he is very happy with his Bellator home, especially since longtime friend and promoter, Scott Coker has taken over the helm.

My experience with Scott has been nothing but great. I want to fight for him. Strikeforce took excellent care of me and now that he's with Bellator, I'm getting that same treatment here. They roll out the red carpet royal treatment for all their fighters. It's why everybody loves him.

When I first signed with Bellator, before Scott took over, I wasn't getting treated like that. It was more, ‘You're going to sell tickets.' They conducted themselves like a small show, but they didn't even show the respect that some small shows give to their fighters. I had a chip on my shoulder until I heard Scott took over. I couldn't be happier with things now, and I don't think I'd be this content with the UFC. Bellator will be my home until I call it a day on my fighting career.

You can follow Virgil via his Twitter account, @VirgilZwicker