Ricardo Arona targets UFC Rio for his octagon debut, needs to get a win under his belt first though

Former PRIDE light heavyweight stand-out, Ricardo Arona has been speaking about his goal of making it to the ranks of the UFC, explaining the promotions upcoming card in Rio de Janeiro would be the perfect place for him to make his debut.
Speaking via Tatame Magazine, Arona said:

“I don’t have a contract signed with nobody, but I want to be ok to sign a contract, preferably an international one, but Brazil has been evolving a lot, so maybe I’ll fight in Brazil again. My goal is to dispute an international championship, except if it’s on UFC Rio, because it’s an international championship, but it’ll be in Brazil. If I have the chance to fight on UFC in August, it’ll be the ideal. I’ve been training thinking about it, I want to be 100% to return on this UFC in Brazil, I think it’d be perfect to return on UFC Rio and I’ve been training hard for it.”

“What Dana White’s told me was, “it’d be perfect if you fought once before coming. We have a vacancy for you here on UFC, but you should fight first to earn rhythm”. I told him it was ok, and that I’d like to return to UFC, and now that UFC is here in Brazil, it’ll be great to gather the two things: fighting in Brazil on UFC Rio. If I have the chance to do it, it’d be great to fight on UFC in August. If things don’t change, in two months I’ll be 100%. If God helps me. I can’t wait to be fighting again.”

Arona was a force to be reckoned with in the PRIDE days, taking on the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Will he be able to recreate those glory days inside the octagon despite a sad run of injuries?