Former Bellator LW champ Will Brooks signs with UFC, debuts vs. Ross Pearson

It’s happening on short-notice, but we will be seeing former Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks in the UFC. “Ill” Will has officially signed with the promotion and will make his debut on July 8th against Ross Pearson at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale in Las Vegas, Nevada. MMAjunkie first broke the story on Wednesday afternoon. Brooks is replacing James Krause, who withdrew from the event for undisclosed reasons. The night’s main card will air live on FS1.

Brooks (18-1) was granted his unconditional release from Bellator MMA last month, two months before his deal with the promotion was set to expire. He had been increasingly vocal with his desire to test the free agency market, and was critical of the way he felt that Bellator hadn’t put in more effort to promote him. As for his in-cage accomplishments, they’re incredibly impressive. After a split decision upset win over Michael Chandler at Bellator 120, he stopped Chandler in the rematch to become the undisputed Bellator lightweight champion. He twice defended the belt with unanimous decision wins over Dave Jansen and Marcin Held before his rocky relationship with Bellator finally came to an end.

Pearson (19-10, 1 NC) defeated Chad Laprise by split decision at UFC Brisbane in March. Consistency has been a problem for the Englishman, who has not won consecutive fights since stopping George Sotiropoulos and Ryan Couture back-to-back in late 2012-early 2013. This is “The Real Deal’s” 3rd fight of 2016, which also includes his unanimous decision loss to Francisco Trinaldo. The TUF 9 winner does have a recent split decision win over touted prospect Paul Felder at UFC 191 last September.

The TUF 23 Finale is headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight between championJoanna Jedrzejczyk and Brazilian rival Claudia Gadelha. Also featured on the card are the TUF 23 tournament finals in the light heavyweight and women’s strawweight divisions.