38-Fight MMA Veteran & Ex-Champion Asks UFC Boss Dana White for UFC Opportunity

Should the UFC sign "Spaniard" at this stage of his career?

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

A former Bellator and RIZIN champion got the chance to chat with UFC CEO Dana White last weekend at UFC 327.

Taking place at the Kaseya Center in Miami, FL, UFC 327 was headlined by a fight for the promotion’s vacant light heavyweight title, which saw Carlos Ulberg overcome what appeared to be a significant knee injury in order to stop former titleholder Jiří Procházka with strikes in the opening round.

The rest of the card produced plenty of action to keep the Miami fans entertained throughout the night. In one of the card's most highly-anticipated matchups, Aaron Pico secured his first UFC win over Patricio Pitbull in a battle between former Bellator stars.

Juan Archuleta Meets With Dana White At UFC 327

Pico and Pitbull weren’t the only Bellator veterans at the Kaseya Center on Saturday night, as the promotion’s former bantamweight titleholder Juan Archuleta was also in attendance and shared a photo of himself with White on social media.

As noted in his caption accompanying the photo, Archuleta previously held bantamweight belts in top Japanese promotion RIZIN as well as Bellator, and the MMA veteran has been actively campaigning for an opportunity in the UFC dating back to last year.

"Spaniard" Held Titles In Both RIZIN & Bellator

Boasting a 31-7 record, Archuleta began his professional MMA career in 2013 and went 5-0 before being submitted in his lone appearance for World Series of Fighting in 2015.

Archuleta followed up the first setback of his career with a lengthy winning run that saw him win and defend multiple regional MMA titles before joining Bellator in 2018. After coming up short in a featherweight title shot against the aforementioned Pitbull, “Spaniard” won the vacant Bellator bantamweight belt by defeating Patchy Mix in 2020 before he relinquished the title to Sergio Pettis the following year.

Juan Archuleta (blue gloves) celebrates after his win over Eduardo Dantas (not pictured) during Bellator 222 at Madison Square Garden. Archuleta won the fight. | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

After defeating UFC veteran Enrique Barzola and taking a split decision over Soo Chul Kim in the first Bellator vs. RIZIN event, Archuleta fully made the jump over to RIZIN in 2023 and won the promotion’s vacant bantamweight title later that year. The 38-year-old was stopped by current UFC fighter Kai Asakura in his first title defense and closed out his RIZIN run with three-straight losses.

Juan Archuleta and Kai Asakura at RIZIN 45. | (RIZIN FF)

Archuleta returned to the win column last summer with a stunning knockout of Dennis Linton to win the BORROKA featherweight belt before he also submitted UFC veteran Jose Johnson in his first title defense, and he was scheduled to return to RIZIN on New Year’s Eve to face Suguru Nii before withdrawing from the event due to visa issues.