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[beau420]

Bellator Signs UFC and Strikeforce Veteran Joe “Diesel” Riggs | MMAWeekly.com

Bellator Fighting Championships on Monday announced the signing one of its most experienced fighters ever. Joe Riggs is a former WEC middleweight champion and a veteran of the UFC, Strikeforce, King of the Cage, and too many other promotions to count.

Debuting professionally in 2001, the 28-year-old Riggs has averaged four to five fights per year over the course of his career, racking up a record of 34-11.

Having defeated the likes of Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, “Ultimate Fighter Season 3″ winner Kendall Grove, Phil Baroni, Chris Lytle, and others, Riggs is a strong addition to Bellator’s roster. He joins fighters such as middleweight champion Hector Lombard, Bryan Baker, and Eric Schambari.

“Bellator has a lot of well-rounded, talented guys in their middleweight division,” said Riggs. “There are some really good middleweights for me to test myself against, and it was one of the reasons I came to Bellator.”

Riggs, following a loss to Jay Hieron on a Strikeforce card, comes to Bellator after back-to-back victories in his last two bouts.

Decent pickup for Bellator...I'd like to see him take on Baker, then take on the rarely tested Hector Lombard....doubt he will make many ripples in the Bellator pool, but at least he has experience and notoriety....some drawing power too.

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

Riggs has been snakebitten for a large part of his career and he's still a very young man with tonnes of pure athleticism. Really hope he has a nice resurgance, because he's a very exciting fighter to watch.