When Matt Lindland last fought at Affliction’s “Banned” debut event, he found out that his opponent Fabio Nascimento was a tougher bout than expected.

He seemed unaware of some criticism of his performance, and vowed to put together a more exciting gameplan for his upcoming bout with Vitor Belfort at “Day of Reckoning” on January 24th.

”I don’t know who’s criticizing. They weren’t in there fighting that night. The guy [Nascimento] came to win,” he said during a media conference call on Wednesday.

”It was a hard fight to finish. He’s a tough fighter, he’s a good fighter,” he continued. “After he realized he wasn’t going to beat me, he said his goal was not to get finished. I’ll have a better performance come January 24th against an opponent that will come after me and try to win.”

The 2000 Olympic Games Greco-Roman silver medalist is widely aware of Belfort’s strengths. The Brazilian last fought on the undercard of “Banned,” scoring a knockout victory against veteran journeyman Terry Martin.

”Vitor has very quick feet, very quick hands. He moves well and is hard to get a hold of,” he commented. “He looked to be working his way off the bottom better in that last fight. He’s going to be harder to control on the ground. Vitor (Belfort) is a phenomenal fighter with super athleticism and I’m looking forward to a great fight with him.”

Lindland’s focus and preparation for the upcoming bout remains unfazed. The Oregonian looks to add another victory in a growing list of high-caliber opponents which include Carlos Newton; Jeremy Horn; Antonio “Nino” Schembri; and Pat Miletich.

I’ve actually had a lot more time to prepare for this fight with the rescheduling (from the previous date of October 4th, 2008) of this event. I think I’ll show I’m well-prepared and ready. This is the best shape I’ve been in and the most well-prepared. I’m probably facing one of the toughest guys I’ve ever faced.

2008 saw an “off” year for Lindland. The unfamiliarity and uncertainty of many well-intentioned and seemingly competitive mixed martial arts promotions eventually gave way to a lack of fights. Previous years saw the folding of three separate promoters.

“Three companies prior to Affliction that I was fighting for went out of business,” he explained. “I fought for the IFL, they went out of business. I fought for bodogFIGHT, they went out of business. I fought for the WFA, and they all were not able to make this work. I’m with Affliction now. You’ll see me in the ring more frequently, which is what I’ve always wanted to do.”

During the difficult hiatus, Lindland attempted a run as a state legislator for a district which included Clackamas County. Though he won the Republican party primary early in the year, Lindland fell short of his Democratic counterpart on the November 4th general election.

Still, he doesn’t see a career in public service replacing his current status as an MMA fighter any time soon.

” It was something I did because we didn’t have any qualified candidates running,” he said. “It wasn’t necessarily something I was looking to do or have my heart set on. We did run a competitive race and won 2 out of 3 counties. I came up short by 1,200 votes out of 30,000 and a two-point margin. I thought I did a very competitive job for my first time out. I’m focused on my fight and my fighting career. That’s my number one priority.”

Lindland has also been running a regional promotion in the northwest called SportFight since 2004. UFC and IFL fighters, including Ryan Schultz, Josh Burkman, Ed Herman, and Matt Horwich, all fought for Lindland’s promotion at some point.

His mission is to further spread knowledge of the sport in his native Pacific Northwest, and recent moves have helped spread the promotion to the Seattle area.

” Since the Sonics left a void in some of the sports entertainment up there, I moved our Comcast Sports show… into the Seattle market now on Comcast Sports Net,” said Lindland. “Hopefully, more fans will catch on and it will grow up in the northwest. We’re having the same issues in the Portland market where there are fans, they just need to know about it.”

Don’t expect Lindland to give a prediction on the upcoming WAMMA Heavyweight Championship bout between Fedor Emelianekno and Andrei Arlovski. He’ll be too busy enjoying the bout.

“I’m not real good at predictions, especially when I’m not in the ring,” he said. “They’re both phenomenal fighters. They bring such a different style to the fight that I’m looking forward to watching that one. I’m just going to enjoy the fight and not make predictions on that one.”