UFC, Bellator Vet Danilo Belluardo Signs With Ares FC

NEW FIGHTER SIGNINGWe are thrilled to announce the signing of Italian Venator Champion & UFC veteran, @BelluardoDanilo at ARES Fighting! Ranked 1st in Lightweight in & with an impressive 50% Knockout record (12-0- 5), Caterpillar is ready to hatch within our promotion pic.twitter.com/8ir1PNOpG4

— ares_fighting (@ares_fighting) June 4, 2020

It appears that Italian fighter Danilo Belluardo has signed with a new organization.

On Thursday morning, Ares Fighting Championship announced on social media that "Caterpillar" has signed with the promotion. Even though he is still only 25, the lightweight Italian fighter has already competed in the MMA major leagues. He had a short stint both in Bellator MMA and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Belluardo (12-5) was planning on making his Cage Warriors debut against the undefeated Mason Jones back in March at CW 113. However, the Italian pulled out after the COVID-19 health emergency broke out in Italy.

"Caterpillar" is 3-2 in his last five appearances and he is looking to get back on track after back-to-back TKO losses against Joel Alvarez and Olympian Mark O. Madsen in the UFC. To date, Belluardo's most significant victory came at the expense of Denilson Neves de Oliveira at Venator FC 5 in a championship encounter. Recently, Belluardo and his teammate Valeriu Mircea signed with Management Factory.

At the moment, there is no word regarding his first opponent in Ares FC. The relatively new promotion was planning on holding its sophomore event in Belgium on April 3. The card was set to feature multiple UFC veterans, including Nordine Taleb, former UFC flyweight title challenger John Moraga and the debut of the 28-year-old UFC alum Juan Adams in the heavyweight division.

In addition to Ares FC 2 -- which has been postponed to Oct. 30 -- Sherdog has learned that the promotion is looking to host first event on French soil. The card, which is targeted for Paris, has not yet been confirmed, but it should go down in January 2021.