5 former UFC fighters who Dana White wouldn't mind re-signing

#4. Sergio Pettis – former UFC flyweight

Sergio Pettis is currently enjoying a fantastic run in Bellator MMA

Few fighters have done quite so well for themselves since departing the UFC as Sergio Pettis, who left the promotion in late 2019.

In the UFC, it felt like ‘The Phenom’ was always trapped in the shadow of his older brother, former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis. Despite picking up some big wins during his tenure with the promotion, Sergio simply couldn’t get over the final hurdle and a 2018 defeat to Rob Font seemed to end his hopes of a title run.

However, since joining Bellator MMA, Pettis has gone from strength to strength. ‘The Phenom’ defeated Juan Archuleta for the Bellator bantamweight title in his third bout with the promotion and has since gone on to knock out Kyoji Horiguchi, whose own reputation has soared since leaving the UFC.

Why would Dana White want to bring Pettis back to the UFC? There are a number of valid reasons.

Firstly, he didn’t necessarily want to lose him in the first place, as ‘The Phenom’ left as a free agent rather than being released. Secondly, he fights in an extremely aggressive and exciting style, meaning he could make for some great fights in the octagon.

Thirdly and most importantly, Pettis stands as one of just two fighters to hold a win over current UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno inside the octagon. It’s never a good look for a fighter outside of the promotion to hold a win over one of its champions.

With that considered, White would surely jump at the chance to re-sign Pettis and could easily market a big rematch between him and Moreno.

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#3. Ryan Bader – former UFC light heavyweight

Ryan Bader has been reinvented as a brutal power puncher during his run with Bellator MMA

At the time he departed the UFC, it seemed to make sense for Ryan Bader to head for pastures new, despite the fact that he was on a genuinely excellent run at the time.

The TUF 8 light heavyweight winner had beaten seven of his last eight foes, but his lone loss came in devastating fashion at the hands of Anthony Johnson. Based on that, a run at the UFC light heavyweight title seemed unlikely.

That wasn’t the case in Bellator MMA, though. Bader signed with them after departing the UFC and won their light heavyweight title in his first bout with the promotion.

Following that, ‘Darth’ put together a tremendous run of wins, defeating the likes of Matt Mitrione and Fedor Emelianenko to capture Bellator’s heavyweight title, too, becoming the promotion’s first-ever double champion.

While Bader has suffered two disappointing defeats in recent fights, his newly-found style of aggressive power punching would make a UFC return a welcome one, particularly for Dana White, who wouldn’t mind weakening his competition.