Former Bellator Lightweight champion Will Brooks has signed a six-fight deal with the UFC and will face Season TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson at “The Ultimate Fighter 23” finale on July 8, a UFC official confirmed the news to MMAJunkie Wednesday.
Brooks (18-1, 9-1 in Bellator) is a former Bellator Lightweight champion that never even lost his title. The reigning champ of the promotion since 2014, Brooks defended his Lightweight title twice against Marcin Held and Dave Jansen and defeated Bellator star Michael Chandler twice to win the undisputed and interim titles. Bellator MMA had recently waived all negotiating rights with Brooks upon releasing the American Top Team fighter last month.
Pearson (19-10, 11-7 in UFC) has intervaled between wins and losses across his last eight fights. Having lost to Diego Sanchez, Al Iaquinta, Evan Dunham and Francisco Trinaldo, while garnering wins against Gray Matnard, Sam Stout, Paul Feleder and Chad Laprise. Pearson holds seven wins by way of knockout and five by way of submission.
Good first fight for him, hopefully he can make some waves even though this division is stacked already. Wouldn’t mind seeing him vs alvarez since that scrap never happened in bellator