Yoel Romero, the former multiple-time UFC title challenger, has agreed to a new multifight deal with Bellator, sources told ESPN.
Romero is expected to sign his new deal imminently.
The deal comes less than two weeks after the UFC released the Cuban-born fighter after more than seven years in the promotion.
Initially, Bellator officials passed on Romero, but after further talks, the two sides were able to come to an agreement.
Romero, 43, is expected to debut at 205 pounds, which is the weight class in which he started his career. His debut fight and date are not set yet.
His most recent fight was a loss to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision in March. Both Romero and Adesanya received criticism after the fight because it did not live up to expectations.
Romero won a silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He made his MMA debut in 2009 and his UFC debut in 2013. He won his first eight fights inside the Octagon before losing an interim middleweight title fight to Robert Whittaker in July 2017. He fought for the interim or undisputed middleweight title four times but never won the UFC belt.
