Juan ‘Spaniard’ Archuleta on signing with Bellator, TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt II

Earlier today (Jan 3rd, 2018), Juan ‘Spaniard’ Archuleta announced on his Facebook that he had signed with Bellator MMA, now leaving behind four championships from four different division at KOTC (King of the Cage. While Archuleta is in the process of making the jump to a much bigger organization, there’s still uncertainty as to what path he’ll lead heading into his new home.

FightBook MMA reached out to Juan, and there wasn’t much clarification regarding which weight class he would compete in, or up-and-coming event/opponent. Archuleta told FBMMA he’s an “opportunist”, and just waiting on the right opportunity to present itself before making any final decision.

It’s 100% confirmed he’ll be heading to Bellator,  even though Archuleta claims he was offered many different contracts from different organizations, however, after leaving the final decision to his management team, and Tiki Ghosn, the move to Bellator felt “closer to home”, Juan said. The UFC had gotten in contact with Archulete just a week prior to signing with Bellator, Juan told FightBook MMA, but ultimately didn’t feel at this point in his career he “needed to make those decisions anymore”, and left it in the hands of his management.

Just before Juan had to head back to training, with the recent breaking news of Max Holloway pulling out of his fight with Frankie Edgar, FBMMA wanted his take on the UFC 222 main-event fallout, and the potential rematch between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.

Nothing is confirmed, merely speculations, as Ariel Helwani of www.mmafighting.com tweeted news that a rematch between Dillashaw and Garbrandt was topic of discussion in hopes of filling in the huge gap at and up-and-coming PPV event (UFC 222). It’s been made clear that TJ wants a super-fight with DJ, and more than likely wont be signing a contact granting Garbrandt an immediate rematch following his knockout loss at UFC 217. Juan shocked by the news of Holloway falling out, and potential rematch with Dillashaw’s TAM (Team Alpha Male) rival, he too seemed confident the next fight for Dillashaw was Johnson, and not Garbrandt. Archuleta couldn’t confirm any contract signing for either opponent, but said TJ has his eyes set on the 125lbs champion.

Photo by: Dave Mandel/Sherdog