Brazilian Jungle Fight champion Yuri “Marajo” Alcantara (20-3) has signed a new five-fight contract with Zuffa and will make his debut on Dec. 16 at WEC 53 against Ricardo Lamas (9-1) at lightweight.
The news was confirmed by Alcantara’s manager, Wallid Ismail via Portodovaletudo.com.br on Wednesday.
WEC 53, headlined with a lightweight title fight between Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis, will be the final event for the Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting promotion. Obviously, it makes sense that if Alcantara signed a five-fight deal, he will be part of the WEC-UFC merger and will make the transition into the UFC’s lightweight division.
Alcantara is currently riding a 10-fight win streak with only one of the bouts going the distance. He has already fought seven times this year, most recently fighting twice in one night at Jungle Fight 22 back in September.
In the semifinals, he submitted tournament favorite Francisco Drinaldo via armbar in the second round. Advancing to the finals, Alcantara then stopped Manuelo Morales in just 16-seconds with a liver kick to become the first Jungle Fight champion.
If you speak Portugese, here is an interview with Yuri “Marajo” after winning the Jungle Fight championship: Yuri “Marajo” Alcantara