There’s been a rumor flying around on the net, that Ricardo Arona has signed with M-1 Organization. Ricardo Arona (13-5) has lost his last fight to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou but is still considered by many to be a Top 10 fighter. This would yet be another blow to the UFC. Is Josh Barnett next?

update:

Tatame magazine just published a brief interview with Ricardo Arona where he denies having signed with M-1.

He says that he had heard rumors in the interned, about him allegedly signing with M-1 but never actually received an offer from them. In fact he claims to have never even heard of the event.

He said…

“I have not signed anything with M1. I’ve heard rumors about it but no offer to fight against Fedor. To be honest I never heard of this event.”

He mentions he wants to fight by the end of the year… ” I’ve gotten a few offers from th US canada and Japan, but I’m still weighing in my options before I sign. I’ll probably have a contract to fight in December.”

He also commented on Crocop’s and Shogun’s recent losses in the UFC. He said…

“Honestly I have no clue why Shogun fought so poorly. He looked to me like a BJJ white belt. A black belt cannot perform like that. Unless he’s suffering from major health problems, he’s got to review his entire training routine. The same thing for Cro cop, he looked terrible against Kongo. If he loses again he’s finished. The same thing goes for Shogun. Getting beat up like that is too much humiliation.”

As soon as we find out more on this juice rumor, we’ll let you know, so keep checking back with us.