Ronny Markes signs with Bellator, interested in heavyweight fight with Josh Barnett

Ronny Markes is the newest addition to the Bellator heavyweight class, the fighter confirmed to MMA Fighting following a report by MMA Junkie.

The company has yet to set a date and opponent for the debut of Markes, who competed as a middleweight in the UFC and a light heavyweight at PFL, but the Brazilian already has an opponent in mind for his first walk to the Bellator cage.

Former UFC champion Josh Barnett recently said in a media scrum (watch here) in Dublin that fellow heavyweights keep turning down a fight with him. Before signing with the company, Markes went on social media saying he’s interested in facing “The Warmaster”.

Markes (19-7) last fought in June, finishing Sigi Pesaleli in a light heavyweight bout he missed weight for at PFL 3. Markes went 3-2 under the UFC banner between 2011 and 2014, suffering defeats to future title challengers Yoel Romero and Thiago Santos. He told MMA Fighting he hopes to fight in December.

Barnett (35-8) left the UFC in June 2018 after a long debacle with USADA and has been active in other sports. His last MMA bout took place in Sept. 2016, chocking out Andrei Arlovski in the main event of UFC Germany and losing his latest UFC win with a record of 3-2.