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Fit-again Terry Etim 'back with a bang' in 2013

Terry Etim has not fought for 10 months © UFC

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England's Terry Etim has vowed to return "with a bang" in 2013, revealing he is ready to fight after a nightmare year on the injury front.

Etim, who is widely recognised as one of the most naturally gifted mixed martial artists to come out of Britain, has been absent from the Octagon since January 14 - when he was knocked out by Edson Barboza.

A serious shoulder injury, followed by a staph infection, has kept Etim out of action, and he told ESPN that he would have been bouncing off the walls had it not been for the birth of his son, Terence.

"I've had a nightmare on one hand, but then one of the best things has happened on the other," Etim said. "I've had a baby boy, which is one of the best things ever, he's four-and-a-half months old now. Very soon he'll be in the gym - I'm already trying to teach him now!

"But then I also snapped my shoulder pretty bad, that happened in about April. I went for a flying armbar on one of my training partners, and as I've gone for it he's pulled out of the armbar, so I've fallen straight on my shoulder.

"I knew straight away it was snapped, it was a very bad injury. But when I got back from that, I got a staph infection. It's been one thing after another."

Etim had won five of his last six fights prior to the Barboza loss, winning three Submission of the Night honours. He now wants to make up for lost time, insisting he is ready whenever the UFC makes the call.

"Now I'm recovered from the infection, my shoulder's 100 per cent, I'm back in training so hopefully as soon as I get a fight, I'll be good to go," Etim said.

"I can roll with it (the shoulder), I can punch, I can grapple and it's holding up well. My manager's going to be in contact with Joe Silva about my next fight, now that my staph infection has gone.

"I was in Nottingham the other week and, seeing the other lads fight, I was thinking, 'I should be there'. I was happy for the others, but I want to be there myself.

"I'm going to come back with a bang, believe me. I'm coming back, 100 per cent. If the UFC offered me something in January, I'd jump at it with two hands."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.