Can a perceived snub fuel a revolution? One American Top Teamer says yes

American Top Team fighter Steve Montgomery (4-2) knew this was going to be his moment. A life-changing visit to train with the famed Diaz brothers had given him a new outlook on his MMA career, and this was his time to shine. Then came something he never anticipated.

“I had this caged-animal-type posture because I had so much aggression that I was ready to let out,” Montgomery told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I was ready to find out who I was fighting, and I was really excited. For them to call me out against my teammate, my posture just dropped.”

Montgomery was one of 32 welterweights picked to compete on the debut season of Bellator MMA’s “Fight Master.” With a $100,000 grand prize and a spot in a future Bellator tournament on the line, Montgomery had put in several months of dedicated training toward prepping himself for the opportunity. Together with fellow ATT fighter Cristiano Souza, the pair pushed each other in training and plotted their path to the top.

The path didn’t exactly follow their plan.

“After I left the Diaz’s house, I kind of changed up my nutrition and changed up my training and ended up just training really hard for three months,” Montgomery said. “Cristiano and I an eight-week training camp together and really pushed each other. We flew out to New Orleans together to film the show and were talking about gameplans together, obviously. I mean, we were teammates.

“We put a lot into the show together, and we didn’t find out until Friday around noon at weigh-ins that we were fighting.”

Despite a pool of 30 other fighters to choose from, Bellator MMA officials paired the two teammates together in an elimination-round fight. The fighters found out one day prior to their fight at the official weigh-in ceremony. Both Montgomery and Souza voiced their objections but were told nothing could be done due to Louisiana State Boxing & Wrestling Commission regulations.

“We really didn’t know what to think about it,” Montgomery admitted. “We really tried to push (Bellator matchmaker) Sam Caplan and some of the other people from Bellator to change the matchup, but they said that they couldn’t because of the commission. What I didn’t like about that was there were a couple of guys who had their opponents back out, so they brought in replacements to fight on a day’s notice. So how could the athletic commission allow those replacements but not let us change the matchup? We just wanted to know why we were fighting.

“There were even people on the Bellator staff who didn’t seem to be happy about the matchup. They saw that it ruined our whole aura. It ruined the good energy we had. Before that, the interviews were going well. We were excited. All the people on the show seemed pretty cool. We were just ready to go – on weight, trained hard. And then to throw us that curveball threw me off mentally.”

While Souza was visibly shaken, as well, he was able to get over the mental hurdle of facing a teammate to score a first-round TKO. Afterward, the Brazilian broke into tears at ending the dreams of a close friend.

“We were talking before the fight, and we said, ‘You know what? It’s 11 a.m. That’s what time we usually do MMA ground and pound class back home. Let’s just make it a hard ground-and-pound class,’” Montgomery said. “We kind of laughed, and that was it. But I just couldn’t get off first. There was a huge mental block.

“When I fight, I really am a killer. I go out there looking to come out with my hand raised or go out on my shield. It’s just one of those two things. It’s no other option. To go out there and not really be myself, it didn’t feel right. I couldn’t get the right endorphins and excitement before our fight.”

After the loss, Montgomery said Bellator officials offered to give him another fight for the promotion, but they didn’t think a slot would be available until September. Rather than wait that long (taping took place several months before the show’s recent debut), Montgomery asked for his release from the company.

He bounced back with a 60-second submission victory in an April fight in North Carolina and said he hopes to fight again in the next six weeks or so.

While the loss proved a major disappointment – and though he still believes things should have been handled differently – Montgomery said he isn’t forever shutting the door on a potential Bellator fight. In fact, there’s a small part of him that would like to return just to prove a point.

“I definitely felt shorted, but I wouldn’t mind showing them what they missed out on,” Montgomery said.

In the meantime, Montgomery said he’s taken a valuable lesson from the experience, one that he’s taking with him to life both in and out of the cage.

“I learned a lot from that experience, whether it be about MMA or life in general,” Montgomery said. “I think I came out of it about 10 times stronger. I had 23 hours notice to prepare for the biggest curveball I’ve ever been thrown in my life.

“Don’t be fearful of anything. I faced one of the worst demons of my life, and I took it head on. I really just looked it in the eye and dealt with it. That really just helped me.”

Montgomery continues to train at American Top Team, and he’s planning on soon releasing a web series that brings viewers behind the scenes of the famed Florida team both in and out of the gym. And if life ever throws him another curveball, Montgomery said he’ll be ready to knock it out of the park.

“I’m eating better, and I’m training way, way harder – and smarter – as well,” Montgomery snub. “I’m doing a lot of strength and agility, a lot of really technical work. And my sparring partners are Thiago Alves and Jorge Masvidal and all the other guys. So I’m getting good sparring, but I’ve changed my body, I’ve changed my nutrition.

“I changed my complete an total mindset. On the inside, I’m smiling. I’m happy to be where I’m at, and I’m more involved in the present moment. I go out and have a blast.”

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.