Bantamweight Francisco Rivera signs new four-fight deal with UFC

UFC bantamweight Francisco Rivera, unbeaten in three fights since his return to the promotion, has re-upped with the company after his most recent victory a month ago.

Representatives at Iridium Sports Agency on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Rivera (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has inked a new four-fight deal with the UFC.

RIvera returned to the UFC in 2012 after back-to-back first-round knockout wins for Tachi Palace Fights. He picked up a unanimous decision win over Alex Soto at UFC on FUEL TV 3 in May 2012. But his first-round knockout of Roland Delorme at UFC 149 in July was overturned when Rivera tested positive for a banned substance.

But he returned strong at UFC 156 in February with a second-round TKO victory over Edwin Figueroa.

The California-based Rivera started his MMA career 5-0 before a call from the WEC. But he lost the first fight of his career with a first-round TKO to Erik Koch at WEC 52. After the WEC-UFC merger, he dropped from featherweight to bantamweight and lost his debut in that weight class at the TUF 13 Finale in June 2011 to Reuben Duran, a third-round submission.

He was let go, but the impressive wins for Tachi Palace got him a late-notice callback to fight Soto when Azamat Gashimov was forced off with an injury.

Rivera does not yet have his next fight booked, but when it arrives, he’ll be seeking to run his unbeaten streak to six fights.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.