One of the BJJ world’s most popular athletes is returning to MMA competition. Tom DeBlass last appeared in the cage in 2013, when he put together a two-fight win streak at Bellator before retiring to focus on BJJ. Years later, and the 38-year-old has now signed with ONE Championship.
DeBlass debuted in the UFC on short notice and dropped a decision loss to Cyrille Diabate, before cutting to 185 lbs and losing to Riki Fukuda at UFC Macau in 2012. DeBlass signed for Bellator soon after his UFC departure and scored two stoppage victories. DeBlass was scheduled to fight King Mo but suffered a cut in training and retired soon after.