IBJJF No Gi World Championship winner and former Bellator fighter AJ Agazarm has just announced that he will be returning to the cage later this year. He did it through a somewhat cryptic message where he gave fans the ability to guess where he was competing, including a selection of options to pick from. The first of these options was actually the most unlikely, a fight against Jake Paul in the UFC. Although nothing is impossible in the modern era of YouTube stars crossing over into combat sports, Paul has signed an MMA contract with PFL and is still awaiting his debut.
The second of the options that Agazarm laid out was a match against Garry Tonon on an unnamed ONE Championship card, which wouldn’t be all that far-fetched. Agazarm didn’t specify whether this would be an MMA fight or BJJ match, but Tonon has been competing regularly for the promotion under both disciplines. The only thing that would stop this from happening is that Tonon has entered the under 77kg division at ADCC 2024 and this is due to take place in the same month as Agazarm’s return. Competitors do often book matches in quick succession, but a major event like ADCC 2024 is usually something athletes will focus on exclusively.
The third and final option presented by AJ Agazarm for his return to the cage was a match against Aljamain Sterling at the upcoming Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship event. This could only ever be a grappling match but it does seem as though it would be the most likely option. Sterling has already competed for ADXC in the past and he’s taken several grappling matches over the years, while ADXC is known for booking big-name matches like this. No matter who Agazarm faces, he’ll no doubt be eager to get a win after dropping a decision against Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa in his last match at Pit Submission Series 5.
AJ Agazarm announced the news that he was going to return to the cage at some point in August this year in a recent post to his official Instagram account: