Tom Watson returns to BAMMA after three years on the sidelines

Tom Watson will return to the old stomping ground that led him to the UFC, as the U.K. veteran has signed on the dotted line with BAMMA.

BAMMA confirmed Watson’s mulit-fight deal with MMA Fighting in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Michael Morgan first reported Watson’s signing last Monday via Twitter.

Watson (17-9) has not been in action since his August 2015 loss to Chris Camozzi at UFC Nashville. The defeat brought the Brit’s Octagon tally to 2-7 following his signing in 2012.

Despite being released from the promotion on the back of the Camozzi loss, and the lengthy period of inactivity following the defeat, “Kong” never officially hung up his gloves.

The most notable win of Watson’s UFC tenure came against Sam Alvey. He claimed a unanimous decision win over “Smilin’ Sam” when the pair faced off at UFC Maine. The other win he took under the UFC banner came against Stanislav Nedkov at UFC London in February 2013. He stopped the Bulgarian with a barrage of strikes in the second round. Watson lost five bouts with the UFC — all by way of decision — to Brad Tavares, Thales Leites, Nick Catone, Rafael Natal and Camozzi.

Watson’s middleweight title reign with BAMMA was likely the best run of form he put together as a professional. After beating fellow UFC veteran John Maguire in the inaugural BAMMA event in 2009, he went on to claim the promotion’s middleweight title against Matt Horwich at BAMMA 3.

He defended the title on three occasions against Alex Reid, Murilo Rua and Jack Marshman before signing with the UFC in 2012.