Former UFC lightweight, Kurt Pellegrino, may return to MMA competition but not with the UFC according to fightersonlymagazine.co.uk.

Pellegrino announced his hiatus from competition earlier this year when he chose not to re-sign with the UFC, citing his desires to spend time with his family as the cause. At the time Pellegrino stumbled onto a rough patch in his career, dropping two successive bouts to Gleison Tibau and George Sotiropoulos.

"When my son was born, I asked Joe (Silva) if I could retire and walk away from the sport. Therefore, I ended my contract with the UFC. I greatly appreciate them, but I didn't think it was my time. My head wasn't in fighting. It was into raising a family and being there for them. They let me leave, which was very nice," Pellegrino said.

Presently Pellegrino has desires to compete once again but favors fighting outside of the UFC instead. As "Batman" points out, being a UFC fighter also brings along other responsibilities.

"I just don't know if fighting in the UFC is what I want to do right now. It's not that I don't ‘want' to fight for them. It's just that fighting for them is a lot of traveling, autograph signing. It's not ‘just' fighting with them. You have to keep up with marketing yourself as a brand, and I have a family. Do I want to come back to fighting? Yes. Do I think the time, right now, for me, is to be in the UFC? No," Pellegrino said.

Should Pellegrino return to fighting, promotions such as Bellator or Shark Fights would be a good fit for him. Such promotions would not only benefit from Pellegrino's talents but also the marketability of a former UFC fighter. More importantly it would give Pellegrino the subtlety that he desires, away from the bright lights of the UFC.