Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) just added a world-class striker to its ranks by inking a longterm contract with former GLORY and K-1 champion Gokhan Saki, who announced the deal earlier today on Twitter.
See for yourself.
I'm glad i finally can announce that i have signed an exclusive long term contract with the UFC. #ufc #SakiUFC #Turkiye #UAE #Dubai pic.twitter.com/FXrGXuXXht
— Gokhan Saki (@gokhantherebel) May 25, 2017
Saki, 33, held world titles for both K-1 and GLORY kickboxing and was expected to fight Rico Verhoeven at some point this year. That proposed bout never came to fruition, much to the dismay of “The Rebel.”
From his official Facebook page:
“After five months being kept on a line, for me it was done, I had a lot of other deals but I kept waiting to fight Rico or for GLORY. The waiting is over, tired of it. Glory Kickboxing is playing politics to keep their ‘champion’ Rico Verhoeven safe for his renewal contract that had to take place end May or begin June. If he would lose against me, his position towards Glory would have been weakened. Rico Verhoeven and his team and also Glory did not want to expose their Champ to such risks.”
GLORY’s loss is UFC’s gain.
No word yet on when Saki will make his debut, or whether he will compete at heavyweight or light heavyweight, but there is no shortage of exciting match ups possible in UFC.
Any suggestions?