Kickboxing champion Joe Schilling is officially bringing his talents back to MMA.

After claiming earlier this month that he was not “progressing financially” in the kickboxing world, Schilling (2-5 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) has decided to put the entirety of his focus going forward on competing in MMA, and he’ll do so under the Bellator banner.

Following several months of negotiations, Schilling revealed to MMAjunkie that he’s signed a new multi-fight deal with Bellator, ending his more than three-year hiatus from MMA. He said he’s been using that time to become a more complete martial artist.

“I would (expletive) kill me back then,” Schilling told MMAjunkie. “I’ve spent maybe five camps with Donald Cerrone now and been involved in a lot of MMA camps since then. I just did my first jiu-jitsu tournament a few weeks ago, and that went well. Mickey Gall just moved out here, I’ve been working with him a lot. Yves Edwards is coaching me. Even Matt Brown. I’ve been getting more well rounded.”

Schilling, 34, has two MMA stints to this point, with some rather mixed results. His first attempt came in 2008, but he admitted he had little awareness of the rules and what he was getting into. The results showed when he suffered three losses in four fights, all by rear-naked choke submission.

His next attempt didn’t come until 2014, and it started off positively with “Stitch ‘Em Up” scoring a “Knockout of the Year” candidate against Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 131. After that, though, he lost back-to-back bouts against Rafael Carvalho and Hisaki Kato, the latter of which was a brutal knockout.

The problem with his previous MMA runs, Schilling said, is his lack of commitment. He was simultaneously fighting kickboxing and would merely schedule an MMA bout when his schedule allowed it. He wasn’t taking it completely serious, but that’s no longer the case.

“The biggest thing was just the mental decision that I’m going to do MMA,” Schilling said. “Before it was like, ‘Oh, I’m just going to do MMA when I can’t get kickboxing fights.’ It was just a side-hustle thing. Now it’s just what it is. It’s full-on MMA from now on.

“I think for a long time when I had my foot on both I was still relying and focusing on kickboxing and not really going all in on MMA. I’ve been training MMA consistently for the past year now, and it worked out.”

Schilling said he would be open to stepping back in the kickboxing ring again in the future but only for a truly significant opportunity or matchup. He currently is dedicated to MMA, though, and is hoping to get back in the cage by September or October.

Although Schilling is seeking the most noteworthy matchups Bellator can put him in, he’s aware he needs to get some wins and build up his underwhelming MMA record. Once he gets that done, though, he said the possibilities are endless, and that includes moving up in weight and perhaps even down, as well.

“I’m still at 185, but there’s a lot of interesting matchups at welterweight,” Schilling said. “I’m willing to go up in weight; I’m willing to go down in weight. I could make 170 with the right matchup and the right motivation. For Wanderlei (Silva) or ‘Rampage’ (Jackson) I would go up to heavyweight. I want to be part of big fights. I’ve been in the big fights in kickboxing, but a big fight in kickboxing is not even comparable to a mid-level MMA fight as far as exposure and financial gain. I want to be part of big fights and big, exciting matchups.

“I’m not really sure what they’re going to do. I think I have to get some fights in there and show people this is a different Joe Schilling than the last one three years ago. Paul Daley would be (expletive) fireworks. It would be a (expletive) war. Some big fights and some stylistically good matchups.

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