Surprising news surfaced last month that Bellator MMA lightweight champion Will Brooks had been released by the promotion, and would become a free agent in the MMA market.

This week Brooks revealed that he and the UFC had reached an agreement, and that he had signed with the UFC. In addition, it was revealed that Brooks would be making his UFC debut at the TUF 23 finale on July 8th against Ross Pearson.

Brooks will be riding an 8-fight win streak into the bout, which saw him defend his lightweight title twice. Pearson on the other hand has hop-scotched wins and losses since early 2014 when he lost a split decision to Diego Sanchez. ‘The Real Deal’ has gone 4-4 since then, with his most recent win being a split decision over Chad Laprise.