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Ricardo Arona: One Win Away from UFC Status "I spoke to Dana White, he was very amicable, every fighter in the UFC were very amicable towards me. They were all asking if I was going to fight for the UFC and all. And Dana told me that it would be interesting for me to compete in one more fight before competing in the UFC, so that I wouldn’t stay inactive and also so that they could analyze my performance as well. I thought that was fair in one way and not fair in another. For one, I think I can come back with everything because I know what I’m capable of doing inside [the octagon]. But if this is a formality and something determined by the promotion, I see nothing wrong with it. I have lots of options right now, I received calls from Abu Dhabi and also from many other countries that are organizing important promotions and I think that’s great, I see nothing wrong with it. From what I’ve seen in this weight class from the champions, what I have to say is that without a doubt, once I get there I will get the belt" -- Ricardo Arona went on to say that he’s been inactive because he was recovering from a surgery he underwent for injuries he received during the Marvin Eastman fight in December of last year (meniscus and ACL injury) and that he expects to be cleared to fight by December. This Fan Shot was promoted to the front page by Nick Thomas. via: Blog Sensei

Ricardo Arona wants to speak with Dana White this weekend at UFC 114, according to Tatame: Focused on the recovery of an injured knee, the Brazilian hopes to go to Las Vegas this week, where he will meet the team of Rogério Minotouro, who will fight Saturday on UFC 114. "I’m going for other reasons, to give a support to Minotouro, merchandising… Being there, I hope I can talk to Dana White, but we don’t have nothing settled or scheduled." "I’m going to meet the guys… I don’t know if I’ll get there right on time, but I’ll do what I can to help him (Rogerio). I just came back to train now, on a calm way because of my knee, but this recovery part is almost done. I’m training so I can be at my best and can come back to business".

Ricardo Arona hoping to fight stateside in Oct/Nov: "In July I’ll restart my MMA training," Arona said. "I got some calls from two American events. I want to be fighting in October or November." More at sherdog.com

Ricardo Arona in talks with UFC: "I can’t talk about this project right now, but there’s a connection between me and the UFC now, something concrete that I didn’t have before. My return will be in the end of the year and will be in the UFC", Arona revealed, exclusively to TATAME.com. "I’ll be worried about my performance, my knee and my body. I wanna do my best in every fight. I’m used to big competition like the UFC, I wanna be ready". HT: tatame.com

Arona injures knee; surgery is a possibility: "I had a serious injury that got worse during the fight, when my foot got stucked on the grid. It was the only thing that went wrong and caused a lot of trouble", said Arona. "I couldn’t close any contracts because of that". HT: tatame.com

Ricardo Arona Injured Again, Couldn't Finalize Deals Because of Torn Knee Ligament: "My knee’s ligament was totally broke, it’s serious. I’m coming from the doctor now, deciding what to do with my knee. I’ll have to stop for a while, maybe I’ll have to make a surgery... If I’ll make the surgery, will be for now." "I had a serious injury that got worse during the fight, when my foot got stucked on the grid. It was the only thing that went wrong and caused a lot of trouble." "I couldn’t close any contracts because of that" said the ex Pride’s fighter, who was rated to sign with Strikeforce. HT: tatame