I hear you man, there's a part of me that just wants to compete but there's a bigger part that doesn't want to be one of those guys who does MMA to look cool. I'm gonna train full-time this summer and I'll see what level I'm at next year and then MAYBE I'll start looking for some amateur bouts.

I don't wanna say "oh I'm gonna be in the UFC" or anything but man am I serious about this haha.

Don't be afraid to pop your cherry as an ammy. You have to fight sooner or later. I know this for a fact. You can never train enough for the next fight. I find alot of guys now that want to put themselves through pro level training for their first ammy fight. And in the end they either over train, get hurt and quit, lose interests because of the intensity or win and get big for their huggies. Ammy fights are fantastic in that they give you a chance to get the first couple crappy fights out of the way and lets you know if you want to take it to the next level.

good points,

also civ alot of gyms will have their fighters enter a number of jiu jitsu and kick-boxing/muay thai tournaments before an mma fight usually around ten each, so you can get used to one on one competition and see where you are at competition wise.