Veteran fighter Frank Trigg (19-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC) is returning to the Ultimate Fighting Championship after signing a four-fight deal with the organization.
Trigg, who's a daily host for MMAjunkie.com Radio, today told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) about the signing, which took nearly nine months to complete.
Trigg, who recently turned 37, went 2-3 in his first UFC stint from 2003-2005, but he's perhaps best remembered for two unsuccessful attempts at Matt Hughes' UFC welterweight title.
The Xtreme Couture fighter is expected to fight in late fall or early winter, though no specific date or opponent has yet been determined for his UFC return. Although he's competed as a middleweight in some recent fights, he'll remain at welterweight in the UFC.
When negotiations again started with Zuffa in 2008, Trigg initially talked to company executives about fighting for the UFC's sister promotion, World Extreme Cagefighting.
"We tried real hard to make a deal for the WEC, back when they still had a welterweight division, and we just couldn't come together," Trigg said. "I talked to them again, and (WEC matchmaker) Sean Shelby and (UFC matchmaker) Jose Silva and I got together and worked it all out."
The WEC eliminated its light heavyweight, middleweight and welterweight divisions beginning in 2008. Most of the weight classes' top fighters (including Carlos Condit, Chael Sonnen and Brock Larson) now compete in the UFC.
Trigg made his octagon debut at UFC 45 and suffered a loss to then-champ Hughes. It was the first of two losses to Hughes via rear-naked choke that would dog him in following years. To this day, Trigg jokes that he can't bear to watch the UFC's popular event-night highlights package, set to the tune of "Teenage Wasteland," because it features the two losses so prominently.
Trigg, who suffered a submission loss to Georges St. Pierre in the final UFC fight, is 7-2 since he left the organization in 2005. He's fought for ICON Sport, where he defeated Jason "Mayhem" Miller to win the organization's middleweight title in 2006, as well as PRIDE, HDNet Fights, World Victory Road's "Sengoku" event series and Strikeforce.
He's currently riding a four-fight win streak with six wins in his past seven fights.
During his 12-year pro career, the former University of Oklahoma wrestler has defeated the likes of Miller, Kazuo Misaki, Falaniko Vitale, Edwin Dewees and Dennis Hallman. His losses have come to notables Hughes (twice), St. Pierre, Condit, Robbie Lawler and Hayato Sakurai.
Trigg, who's also done commentating for organizations such as PRIDE and Affliction, last competed at a February Xtreme Cagefighting Federation event, where he defeated Danny Babcock via unanimous decision.
