Kiwi middleweight Dylan Andrews will step inside the UFC's octagon for the first time in 11 months on Saturday.
The Gold Coast-based 34-year-old tried to put a positive spin on his lengthy layoff by joking that he's just had a really long training camp for his bout against American Sam Alvey (23-6, 1NC) in Sydney at UFC Fight Night 55.
Rewind nearly a year and you will find yourself at UFC Fight Night 33 in Brisbane where Andrews (17-5, 1NC) threw his shoulder out during the second round of his contest with Clint Hester.
The fight doctor deemed that Andrews couldn't continue as he suffered a TKO loss and was sent for surgery the following week with the news that he wouldn't return for 9-12 months.
"It's been hard," he said of his layoff. "But I just got tunnel vision and I knew that I was fighting at the end of the year. I got myself ready a week after I got out of surgery."