PRIDE veterans Gilbert Yvel and Ricardo Arona, at least for now, have not reached agreements, respectively, with the UFC and Strikeforce.
UFC veteran David Bielkheden mentioned on his blog Wednesday after training in Brazil with Arona and the Brazilian Top Team that his good friend Arona has signed with Strikeforce. But that may be premature as Strikeforce director of communications, Mike Afromowitz, told FanHouse Wednesday that the promotion has not signed Arona to a contract.
Arona (13-5), who holds victories over Alistair Overeem, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Kazushi Sakuraba, is scheduled to face Marvin Eastman (16-9-1) at Bitetti Combat on Sept. 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Meanwhile, Yvel (36-13-1) informed FanHouse on Tuesday that he does not know when he's fighting next and that he has not heard anything about a UFC deal, though he would be interested in competing for them.
Yvel is coming off a knockout win over Pedro Rizzo in June and was set to face Paul Buentello at Affliction "Trilogy" until the cancellation of the event. The majority of the fighters on the "Trilogy" card have signed with the UFC, but Yvel is one of the few names the UFC has not been mentioned yet. However, Yvel is a free agent and his future plans could be revealed as soon as next week.
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