Luke
06-02-2010, 09:32 PM
In a recent interview with Brazilian MMA source Tatame, MMA veteran Ricardo Arona commented on his much-talked-about weekend meeting with UFC President Dana White. In light of past comments made by White to the tune of not being very impressed with Arona, Arona said that the meeting went "better than [he] expected" and that it could only be a matter of time before we see the former PRIDE star in the UFC fold.
"I told him I wanted an opportunity to rejoin the UFC before the end of the year, a chance to be here and he said he wanted me on his event, that he has a space for me here on his event and that he only had to talk to my manager and then we would set things up," Arona said.
"He said the doors were opened to me, but he would have to consult first his manager. It was much better than I expected, he was really honest and friendly, so it's enough for me to come back to the hard trainings with an extra energy."
An accomplished ADCC grappler, Arona gained notoriety during his stint in the PRIDe Fighting Championship where he racked up notable wins over Wanderlei Silva, Alistair Overeem, Kazushi Sakuraba, Dean Lister, Dan Henderson. He has notable losses to Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, and most recently, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. In his latest outing at Bitetti Combat MMA 4 he defeated Marvin Eastmann via unanimous decision.
::handshake::
"I told him I wanted an opportunity to rejoin the UFC before the end of the year, a chance to be here and he said he wanted me on his event, that he has a space for me here on his event and that he only had to talk to my manager and then we would set things up," Arona said.
"He said the doors were opened to me, but he would have to consult first his manager. It was much better than I expected, he was really honest and friendly, so it's enough for me to come back to the hard trainings with an extra energy."
An accomplished ADCC grappler, Arona gained notoriety during his stint in the PRIDe Fighting Championship where he racked up notable wins over Wanderlei Silva, Alistair Overeem, Kazushi Sakuraba, Dean Lister, Dan Henderson. He has notable losses to Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, and most recently, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. In his latest outing at Bitetti Combat MMA 4 he defeated Marvin Eastmann via unanimous decision.
::handshake::