Following a two-year absence from MMA due to extenuating circumstances, Magomedrasul ‘Frodo’ Khasbulaev has officially signed with a North American promotion.
BloodyElbow.com has learned from World Series of Fighting officials that Frodo has signed with the promotion and is set to debut at WSOF 21 against former champ Rick Glenn.
The Dagestani featherweight gained recognition with the American fanbase when he went 5-0 under the Bellator banner en route to winning the season eight 145-pound tournament. Following his dominant run, Frodo was set to challenge then-champion Pat Curran for the featherweight title in 2014 but ran into visa issues and was eventually released from the promotion that year.
“We encountered difficulties obtaining a working visa for ‘Frodo,’ and as a result, we are releasing him from Bellator so he can continue fighting elsewhere,” Bellator President Scott Coker said in an official statement.
The reasons for Khasbulaev’s visa issues remain unclear; the Dagestani was adamant that Bellator was behind the issues, even though the promotion denied any involvement.
“The claims made by Mr. Khasbulaev and his manager with reference to me are 100 percent false,” former Bellator VP of talent relations, Sam Caplan, told MMAFighting.com in a statement. “Up until my departure, Bellator’s attorneys were working to resolve his visa situation. He claimed publicly that he has documentation that claims I was involved in revoking his visa application. Both he and his management have failed to produce the documents as promised because they do not exist.”
With these concerns seemingly behind him, Khasbulaev will look to pick up where he left off back in 2013, this time under the WSOF banner.
Update: Rick Glenn has withdrawn from his fight against Frodo. WSOF is searching for a replacement.
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