Former UFC women's title challenger signs multi-fight deal with Bellator 

Former UFC women's bantamweight title contender Sara McMann has signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA. The former Olympic wrestler will compete in the stacked 145-pound division of the organization.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece, McMann became the first American woman in history to win a silver medal in Olympic wrestling. McMann won a silver medal in the Women's Freestyle category at the 2003 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. McMann was honored as a Distinguished Member into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame this year.

In a statement released by Bellator's public relations handle on Twitter, the organization announced the signing of the former UFC title challenger:

"@BellatorMMA has signed former Olympic silver medalist and world title challenger Sara McMann (@Sara_McMann) to an exclusive, multi-fight contract. The decorated grappler will be a significant addition to BELLATOR's industry-leading 145lb division."

You can check out the tweet below:

Sara McMann took to Instagram to notify her fans of the wonderful news, adding that after careful thinking, she "couldn't simply decline" the offer:

"I’m at a very fortunate time in Women’s MMA where other promotions will offer very enticing contracts if you are a top ranked fighter. It’s not easy to leave some of the great people I’ve met or the excellent bantamweight fighters I’ve faced. Bellator made an offer that I simply couldn’t refuse."

Check out the post below:

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RIZIN CEO says Bellator cross-promotion event will trigger the end of UFC's supremacy

On New Year's Eve in Japan, the latest installment of the periodic Bellator-Rizin cross-promotional event will take place. Patricio Pitbull, A.J. McKee, Juan Archuleta, and Kyoji Horiguchi are all scheduled to participate in the spectacular event.

Each bout on the card will feature top combatants from their respective promotions. The main event will be a bout between A.J. McKee and Roberto de Souza.

According to RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara, the event will be the beginning of the end of the domination of the UFC in the global MMA market:

"The influence the UFC has in our industry is about 80-85%. So we all have to get together and do something that they aren't doing....and build it into something that will penetrate the global market. The Japan vs. World NYE event that is finally happening....if we're going to do this, we will have to fully commit. So it has to be between our absolute best, like the world cup of MMA."

Catch Sakakibara's comments below: