One day after the announcement of Efrain Escudero’s deal with Titan Fighting Championships, the TUF 8 winner has jumped to another promotion. MMAFighting.com has learned that Escudero will return to the UFC on Sept. 13, and he will face fellow TUF competitor Francisco Trinaldo.
Titan FC COO Lex McMahon told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani that UFC called him yesterday to get Escudero out of their upcoming card in Fayetteville, and Titan FC was cool with it, per their Zuffa out clause.
UFC Fight Night 51 is set to take place at the Nilson Nelson gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil, and will be headlined by a rematch between Antonio Silva and Andrei Arlovski.
Escudero (22-8), who became the TUF winner with a win over Phillipe Nover in 2008, was released from the promotion after going 2-2 in his next fights. He eventually returned to the Octagon in 2011, but was again released after a pair of losses. With four wins out of his past five bouts, Escudero now enters his third run under the UFC banner.
“Massaranduba” (14-4) earned a shot in the Octagon following a first-round knockout over Delson Heleno in 2012. The Brazilian went 3-3 after moving down from middleweight to lightweight, most recently losing to Mike Chiesa at UFC 173.
Here’s the current fight card for UFC Fight Night 51:
Antonio Silva vs. Andrei Arlovski
Sergio Moraes vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Leonardo Santos vs. ?ukasz Sajewski
Paulo Thiago vs. Mike Rhodes
George Sullivan vs. Igor Araujo
Jessica Andrade vs. Valerie Letourneau
Francisco Trinaldo vs. Efrain Escudero