"The Brazilian Tiger" Is Coming, Ricardo Arona To Make UFC Debut In 2010

This article was originally featured on fiveknuckles.com

According to an interview conducted from tatame.com , highly regarded light heavyweight Ricardo Arona is set to make his UFC debut at the end of the year.

"I can't talk about this project right now, but there's a connection between me and the UFC now, something concrete that I didn't have before," he said. "My return will be in the end of the year and will be in the UFC"

Arona, who was once considered among the top 205-pound fighters in the world back in the Pride Fighting Championships, is currently recovering from a knee injury that he sustained in his last fight, a victory over UFC veteran Marvin Eastman at Bitetti Combat 4 in Brazil.

Known as "The Brazilian Tiger," Arona is world renowned for his deadly Jiu-Jitsu skills. With a 14-5 overall professional record, Arona has defeated notables such as Alistair Overeem , Wanderlei Silva , Dan Henderson , and Jeremy Horn over the span of a 10-year fighting career.

However, as decorated a competitor as Arona is, "The Brazilian Tiger" is 2-3 in his last five fights and hasn't won convincingly since a 2006 victory over Overeem in PRIDE. Regardless, if Arona is indeed signed to a UFC contract by the end of the year, his presence would certainly make things slightly more exciting in the light heavyweight division.

The UFC's 205-pound weight class is currently being dominated by world-class strikers such as the current champion Lyoto Machida and No. 1 contender Mauricio "Shogun " Rua. There aren't many high-level Jiu-Jitsu practitioners within the UFC's light heavyweight division as mostly everyone is content with standing and trading.

Despite Arona's recent performances, he is still an extremely dangerous grappler. Signing Arona would be a fresh addition to the stacked weight-class and it will be interesting to see how he fairs against the upper echelon of the division.