Chris Beal Staying at 125 Pounds Despite Loss in Flyweight Debut

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Chris Beal suffered the first loss of his professional MMA career when he dropped a unanimous decision to Neil Seery at UFC on Fox 14.

The fight served as Beal’s first 125-pound appearance inside the Octagon, but according to the 29-year-old, the loss won’t send him running back up to bantamweight.

“I’m going to keep fighting at 125,” Beal told Sherdog.com on Friday at RFA 23 in Costa Mesa, Calif. “I thought I won the fight. I definitely got tired, but I wouldn’t entirely blame it on the weight cut. It was on me and the way that I did things going into the fight.”

After an impressive first round, it was evident that Beal was running out of gas. His offensive output wasn’t as explosive as it had been during the first five minutes. Seery, who has gone the distance in all three of his UFC appearances, seemed to get stronger as the fight went on. Even though Beal felt slighted by the decision, it’s not a loss he feels the need to rectify immediately -- unless it involves a title shot.

“I don’t want a rematch, because I honestly thought I won the fight.” Beal said. “He doesn’t have what I want, which is the belt. But, if I have to go through him again to get a title shot, so be it.”

With no lingering injuries after the tilt in January, Beal hopes to return to action as soon as possible.