Japanese fighter Michihiro Omigawa (12-8-1) has been resigned by the UFC after almost three years since his last fight with the promotion. He fought as a lightweight at that time and now returns as a featherweight fighter and will face undefeated fighter Chad Mendes (11-0) in February or March.
Ariel Helwani posted the notice at Versus.com on Thursday afternoon, noting that both Omigawa and the UFC had been in negotiations for months over a contract, which will now see the top 10 featherweight rejoin the UFC.
Omigawa has seen a resurgence of his career since dropping to featherweight in mid-2008. The Japanes Judoka trained fighter has won his last five and is 8-1-1 in his last ten bouts. In his last fight he defeated Cole Escovedo by submission at DREAM.16, as well as other notable fighters such as Hatsu Hioki, Nam Phan, and LC Davis in that ten bout stretch.
Mendes, fellow Team Alpha Male member to Urijah Faber, is undefeated in his professional career winning all four of his WEC appearances since his first fight in March of this year. He’s gone on to defeat Javier Vazquez at WEC 52, Cub Swanson at WEC 50, Anthony Morrison at WEC 48, and Erik Koch at WEC 47 in those four fights. He’s won five fights by decision, 2 by knockout, and 2 by submission in his professional career.