Away from MMA competition since September of 2009, Ricardo Arona has been offered a contract to fight for Bellator but he has declined. The 35 year old "Brazilian Tiger" told Rádio Globo that he couldn't accept the deal because of physical issues and is still thinking about in which genre of combat sport he will come back to fight:

I think about "Rampage" and other guys from my time that I would fight again for sure but I can't right now. I've been giving dates for a long time but now I know that it can't be like that. I want to fight, Bellator's offer is good but I can't give a right date, hour, nothing. At first, I need to be 100 percent recovered and this is going to be at the right time. When I'm ready, I'll see how is better to be back, if fighting Jiu-Jitsu, Submission or MMA.

Arona fought for the last time at Bitetti Combat MMA 4, when he beat Marvin Eastman by unanimous decision. The former Pride fighter claims to have torn the ACL of his knee in that fight and hasn't been physically fit to fight since.