Bahadurzada: I Signed with the UFC

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Golden Glory welterweight Siyar Bahadurzada announced Friday that he has inked a contract to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“I signed with the UFC,” Bahadurzada announced via Twitter. “I’m very excited to be a part of UFC and test my skills against the crème de la crème of MMA. I wanna thank the UFC and [UFC President] Dana White for this opportunity. I will shake up the [welterweight] division. Also, special thanks to my team, Golden Glory.”

The announcement comes on the heels of last week’s news that Bahadurzada’s teammate, John Olav Einemo, would return to the Octagon following his release in July due to a clash between his team and the UFC regarding fighter payout procedures. However, the rift between Golden Glory and the UFC seems to have been mended, as Einemo, Bahadurzada and former Strikeforce champion and longtime Golden Glory fighter Alistair Overeem have all signed with the promotion; however, Overeem parted ways with the fight team shortly following his signing.

Shooto’s reigning 183-pound world champion, Bahadurzada is known for his wildly aggressive offense in the ring. The 27-year-old has won six straight fights, last losing to Jorge Santiago in the semifinals of the 2008 Sengoku Raiden Championship middleweight grand prix.

Since that loss, the Afghanistan native has defended his Shooto title twice, knocking out Leandro Silva and Carlos Alexandre Pereira in 2009 and 2010, respectively. More recently, Bahadurzada ran through the Ultimate Glory welterweight tournament, knocking out Derrick Noble, John Alessio and Tommy Depret in the span of seven months to capture the tournament crown in May.