Vinny Magalhaes may be coming back to the organization that made him a household name among MMA fans.
Magalhaes was the Season 8 runner up on The Ultimate Fighter, which he lost to Ryan Bader. A subsequent loss to Eliot Marshall gave Magalhaes his walking papers.
Since leaving the UFC, the submission ace has been on an absolute tear. In his last eight bouts, Magalhaes is 7-1 with five wins coming via submission and his only loss coming by way of decision.
In April last year, Magalhaes defeated Viktor Nemkov via submission (mounted gogoplata) to win the M-1 Light Heavyweight Championship. He defended his title in October against Mikhail Zayats.
After the Zayats bout, Magalhaes’ relationship with M-1 really went south. Magalhaes spoke with MMAJunkie.com Radio about why he’s leaving M-1 and the title behind.
“The first thing I said when I heard about it was, ‘I’m never going to fight for these guys again,'” Magalhaes said. “A few months later, that’s still my thought.” (MMAJunkie.com)
The “it” Magalhaes is referring to was official Evgeni Kogan, openly rooting for and coaching Zayats during the bout.
Magalhaes attempted to get out of his contract early but instead chose to wait it out. With his M-1 contract complete, Magalhaes is free to open negotiations with other promotions and there’s a familiar name at the top of his list.
“…we’re negotiating with the UFC right now,” Pacitti said. “There are others, but the UFC is certainly in line. The UFC is definitely attractive.” (MMAJunkie.com)
The UFC likely thinks Magalhaes is an attractive free agent as well, given that he’s a familiar name within the organization and truly brings “world class” skills to MMA.
In the ADCC tournament, Magalhaes was able to defeat defending champion, Fabricio Werdum.
Although Magalhaes did say he is listening to other offers and will take whichever company gives him the best offer, he made no attempt to hide his desire to fight in the UFC.
“Tell me one fighter who doesn’t want to be in the UFC. If he doesn’t want to be in the UFC, then he probably just doesn’t want to fight.” (MMAJunkie.com)
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