Former UFC lightweight, Stevie Ray will be ending his retirement.

Ray retired from MMA in September of 2020 which he said at the time was due to knee injuries. However, he told BJPENN.com this week that there was much more to it, and it was due to the UFC forcing him out of the organization and making him retire.

Now, after he told all about his entire dealings with the UFC which forced him to retire, Ray says he is ending his retirement. He never wanted to retire and after nearly two years away from the cage, he says he is in talks with Bellator and Brave CF to make a comeback.

“I’m now looking for a new promotion, I’m in talks with Bellator and Brave CF right now. I’m a game opponent and fight in exciting fights,” Ray said to BJPENN.com. “I just want to get back in there and see if I still got it. I’ve always been a fighter. Brave is interested in signing me to a long-term deal. I’ve been wanting to end retirement for ages. It has been hard with COVID, my country was shut down for a bit. I need to get back, I’m always in the gym training and sparring. Just get one fight and remind everyone that I can f*****g fight.”

When Ray will officially sign with a promotion is uncertain. But, he says all signs point to a deal being done soon. He says he is also hoping to have his comeback fight son.

Stevie Ray (23-9) has not fought since he earned a majority decision win over Michael Johnson at UFC Singapore in October of 2019. Prior to that, he suffered a KO loss to Leonardo Santos. In his UFC career, he went 7-4 and is the former Cage Warriors lightweight champion. He also holds notable wins over Joe Lauzon, Ross Pearson, and fought Paul Felder but came up short as he lost by KO.

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