There has been a lot of speculation with regard to the future of Chris "The Killing" Fields since his TUF 19 exit. Claiming a win over Josh Stansbury to secure his spot in the house, Fields later exited the show after Matt Van Buren took a decision win when the two met in the first round of the knockout stages of the competition.

Midweek it was revealed that the Dubliner had signed for BAMMA with his first fight scheduled for February 21 against dangerous French striker Cheick Kone, who is currently riding a four fight win streak.

With his last competitive outing dating back to June 2013, Fields discussed why he took a step back from the sport after the filming of the UFC reality TV series.

"I had two injuries – my knee was pretty bad which I had done nothing about and I had a reoccurring back injury that I had never really fixed," he revealed. "A few different things popped up too, so it basically turned out that I wouldn't be able to fight for six months.

"I still went training and stuff but I couldn't go that extra mile, I couldn't be where I want to be. Me being the dickhead that I am, when that 205er pulled out of the (UFC) Dublin card I put myself forward when I really shouldn't have.

"This is the first time in a good few years that I'm absolutely injury free. I was just damaging my back more and more the way I was going, so I just needed to give it a proper break.

"I was able to compete with it, but I was never 100 percent. I've injured the disk in my lower back two or three times. It's like an office worker's injury, it's the generative disk in my lower back and it's just from wear and tear.

"There were days where it would be fine and then if I hurt it I'd go through this week of numb pain. The fear is always that it would end up worse than that, especially with the back."

After his stint of the reality show, Fields made no bones about not being interested in competing with other opponents for camera time.

Having been around the UFC scene, the former Cage Warriors middleweight champion explained how he now feels like a big weight has been lifted off his shoulders, to the point that he is adamant that he is fighting solely for his own personal satisfaction for the first time in years.

"I see on Twitter lads who had a lot of beef in the house, lads who were constantly at each other – now they're meeting up and they're best pals. It's a bit weird it was like they were playing a game or something. It's like the whole thing in there was to get cameras on them, but that's Americans for you isn't it?

"For a very long time it became all about those three letters (UFC), as I'm sure it has done for everyone. All I wanted to do was get there and when I did, I don't know if it was all it was cracked up to be. I didn't work out the way I thought.

"You're chasing this thing that you've just made so big in your head, I'm sure it's the same whatever line of work you're in, but when you get there it's not as phenomenal as you thought it would be.

"Look, I want to fight the best guys and that's where they are, but it's not the be-all and end-all. It's about me, what I'm going to do and what I'm going to leave behind. I'm doing it because I want to do it now rather than anything else. A good few times over the last few years, it's in the back of my head – is this the one?

"They (UFC) told me to go off and have a fight, but at the moment I don't really give a shit. When I'm old and I'm smoking a pipe and my grandkids ask me about my fighting days, I want to have one perfect fight so I can say – 'that's the one'.

"I want that one perfect performance. I don't want to have to show them a highlight reel of different fights where I did some great things, I want to have one fight that people can watch and go 'oh shit!' I want that finish that makes the Japanese crowds go silent because everyone is scared that the person is dead. That's what I want.

"It's been a mad year but I can't wait to start swinging these 'Go-Go-Gadget' legs around the place again," he laughed.

Fields also spoke about why he chose to sign for BAMMA and indicated that he is hoping to make history by becoming the first man to win both a BAMMA and Cage Warriors championship:

"I