Ahead of his Bellator debut, Josh Sampo has been getting variations of the same question.

Why has he been gone for so long?

That’s an obvious, but pertinent inquiry. After all, when Sampo steps into the cage at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., on Friday, it will be almost three years after his last MMA bout. And that’s probably why Sampo has no problem patiently answering it, too.

First of all, the layoff wasn’t by choice. And it wasn’t just one thing, really, though it was a tragic event that set it into motion.

About four weeks before a UFC 187 meeting with Justin Scoggins in May 2015, Sampo’s father died. So that’s what he had on his plate after taking a unanimous-decision loss in what would end up being the final appointment of his four-fight octagon stint.

“After the fight, I was dealing with everything that comes in the wake of losing a parent,” Sampo told MMAjunkie ahead of Friday’s Bellator 197. “Taking care of my mom, making sure everything was situated with their homestead and all that.”

While that ended up taking a little longer than expected, Sampo was already eyeing a comeback about a year after that. And though this time that would take some adjustments, given the fact Sampo got a job as a middle school science teacher, he was willing to make them.

The drive, Sampo says, remained. The body was holding up, too. At one point, there was even an MMA bout in place.

Josh Sampo (blue gloves) in his last MMA fight at UFC 187 in 2015.

“I scheduled the fight for RFA (44, on Sept. 2016), when they came to St-Louis,” Sampo recalled. “And, unfortunately, I caught pneumonia about a week before the fight.”

Even then, feeling better thanks to the medication, Sampo wanted to fight. But his girlfriend, a nutritionist and “health nut,” intervened. And while the fighter now knows that was for the best, staging a comeback only to have it crumble in the last minute “kind of sucked.”

From then on it was just about waiting for the opportunity.

“I talked to a few managers and friends and they said, ‘Your biggest issue of why you can’t get fights is because you’ve been inactive for so long,’” Sampo said. “Which is kind of like a ‘Catch 22:’ I can’t get active until I get fights, but I can’t get fights because I’m inactive.”

The opportunity did come eventually. And now, set to meet Dominic Mazzotta (12-2 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) in a preliminary card bantamweight bout, Sampo (11-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is certainly happy to have it.

Sure, the circumstances are a bit different than they were for most of his UFC fights. But that’s actually a good thing.

Sampo, who has two college degrees, had a teaching job before he even got into the UFC. He took a sabbatical afterward to dedicate himself to fighting full time. Even in the UFC, though, there’s only so much money most fighters can make. And eventually, paying the bills was an issue.

“After my father passed and taking care of all that situation, I was like, ‘All right, it’s time to get back to the real world,’” Sampo said.

Going from a three-fight skid in MMA into a rewarding job that allowed him to relay his knowledge and pay the bills could have, understandably, caused Sampo’s interest in fighting to fizzle.

But it ended up doing just the opposite.

“When I made fighting my job, it became my job,” Sampo said. “Some people hate going to work, and that’s kind of what fighting started turning into. Just having to get up and go to work. Now I have a job; I have my bills paid. Everything is going good for me,.I’ve got a great career. But I get to fight, that’s my passion. That’s my release away from work, from everyday life.”

But that’s not the only way in which going back to teaching helped Sampo’s other, less conventional career. Amid the layoff and the scarce opportunities, he admits, there were times when the thought that maybe he’d had his last fight crossed his mind.

Those were kept at bay by a few things: being at the gym and helping his other teammates train for their own fights, for instance. The pursuit of the jiu-jitsu black belt, as well. But teaching high-school wrestling ended up being a key factor in keeping the fire for fighting alive.

“Me helping them achieve their goals was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to get back at it,'” Sampo said. “I still have that drive and that desire to want to compete and be successful. They helped instill that back in me. So I really kind of owe it to my high school wrestlers for really kind of pushing me to help chase after my dreams again.”

I'm gonna miss moments like these more than he could ever imagine! It's not about where you come from, it's about HEART! @nickmcghee #hardworkpays #gremlintime

A post shared by Joshua Sampo (@mmagremlin) on Aug 22, 2015 at 10:44pm PDT

‘I can walk away … never fight again and be completely content’

Arguments about ring rust are likely to live on in the MMA community forever. Some will argue that rhythm, adrenaline control, even finding your way around the cage again might be a problem if all you’ve been doing for a while is training. But others, like former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, will tell you – and then offer some strong proof – that ring rust doesn’t exist.

Sampo sides with Cruz on that one.

“I think that if you prepare your body, ring rust is more of a mental thing than anything,” Sampo said. “And I think that I’ve competed on big enough stages, and I fought against tough enough guys, that it’s no different. The only difference is the logo on the canvas.

“That’s the only difference in any of these situations. Because when I fight, when I wrestle, whatever I do on whatever stage, everything goes blank. Everything I focus on is my coach’s voice and the guy trying to punch me in the face.”

On Friday, that guy will be 30-year-old Mazzotta. Coming off a win over Matt Lozano, after a knockout loss to A.J. McKee spoiled his Bellator debut and a nine-fight streak, Mazzotta’s only other MMA loss came in 2014, to former UFC champion Cody Garbrandt.

Josh Sampo (right) during weigh-ins for his last fight at UFC 187 in 2015.

That certainly is an impressive resume. But it’s Mazzotta’s style that has Sampo looking forward to this one.

“I think he’s a very intelligent fighter, and I think he’s going to fight smart,” Sampo said. “But, watching his previous fights and the way that he comes forward and goes after guys, it extremely excites me.”

Sampo’s current deal with Bellator is for one bout – which means that a lot can happen after Friday’s fight. Sampo would love for it to lead to other fights, a few wins, maybe even a title at some point. But if they end up parting ways, Sampo says, that’s fine, too.

Ultimately, there’s only so much he can control. So, rather than focus on getting from point A to point B, the bantamweight is more interested in enjoying the rather unique journey in between.

“I have the ability and I have the opportunity to do something that’s awesome, not everybody gets that same chance,” Sampo said.

Wouldn’t it be interesting, then, if no longer obsessing over winning happened to be just the thing that helped make it happen?

“I have nothing to lose,” Sampo said. “I’ve everything to gain from this. Even if it’s just the experience, I’m fine with that. I can walk away today after the fight, never fight again and be completely content with it. And I think that makes me a very dangerous person.

“I’m doing it for the love and the passion of the sport and martial arts. And not for the money, not for the fame that comes with it.”

For more on Bellator 197, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.