“Right now I’m going back to Russia,” Vartanyan said in an interview “The MMA Herald”. “There are two offers. Maybe I’ll even fight one fight and continue to wait further to sign with the UFC. I gave myself until the summer. If I can’t get signed to the UFC before the summer, I’ll probably continue my career in ACA, if I’m welcome there.”
“It all came down to the human factor in the person of UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby. I met with Dana White, he knows about me, he said, ‘Manny Gamburyan talked about you,’ but ultimately it’s all about Sean Shelby. He said he’d sign me either in April, or if somebody gets fired, or as a replacement. As a replacement, I’m in three weight classes right now – middleweight, welterweight, and lightweight. Those are the three ways I can get into the UFC.”
Last June, 32-year-old Eduard Vartanian extended his winning streak to eight fights by finishing Kazakhstan’s Artem Reznikov by third-round technical knockout in the final match of the ACA lightweight grand prix. On his way to the finals, “Lionheart” earned early victories over South African Alain Ilunga and his compatriot Yusuf Raisov.