Last week, news broke that SRC middleweight champion Jorge Santiago had received his release from World Victory Road. Now multiple media outlets have reported that the veteran has resigned with the UFC.
ESPN.com first reported the signing on Friday. Several media sources have confirmed that a deal is imminent.
Santiago fought for the UFC three times in 2006. He defeated the late Justin Levens in promotional debut. However, he then suffered back-to-back knockout losses, and Zuffa released him.
In 2007, Santiago made his Strikeforce debut and won their one-night middleweight tournament. He defeated Sean Salmon and Trevor Prangley in less than three minutes total.
His tournament success continued in Japan. He defeated Yuki Sasaki, Logan Clark, Siyar Bahadurzada and Kazuhiro Nakamura to earn a shot at the SRC middleweight title. In the title bout, he defeated Kazuo Misaki. Santiago defended the belt twice, against Mamed Khalidov and Misaki, before leaving the promotion.
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