UFC, Bellator veteran Marcin Held signs with Absolute Championship Berkut

Things didn’t work out the way he hoped in the UFC, but Marcin Held has a new opportunity forthcoming.

Held (23-7) has signed with Absolute Championship Berkut, the promotion today announced on Twitter. No debut date or first opponent was announced.

The 26-year-old Held, from Poland, was a high-profile signing by the UFC in 2016 after leaving Bellator, where he had an 11-3 record as a lightweight. While at Bellator, he was a two-time tournament finalist and fought Will Brooks for the 155-pound title at Bellator 145, but dropped a unanimous decision.

He rebounded from that title loss with a decision win over Dave Jansen, giving him seven wins in eight fights, then came to the UFC.

But in the world’s biggest MMA promotion, Held dropped his first three fights. Diego Sanchez outworked him at UFC Fight Night 98 in his promotional debut in November 2016. Then he dropped a split call to Joe Lauzon in a fight that even Lauzon said should have gone the other way.

At UFC Fight Night 109 in Sweden, he was knocked out for the first time in his career when Damir Hadzovic stopped him seven seconds into the third round with a vicious knee for his third straight setback. And though he finally got his first UFC win this past October with a unanimous decision over Nasrat Haqparast, he now finds himself ready to lace up the gloves for someone else.

Held has 16 of his 23 career wins by stoppage, including a dozen by submission. Early in his MMA career, he was a standout on the world jiu-jitsu circuit. In the cage, he became known as a leg-lock artist and had several Bellator submission wins by going after legs.

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