There have been rumblings and public statements over the last few weeks that the “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou was offered a poor deal from the UFC and that he was also considering offers from EliteXC and bodogFIGHT. It appears now that the UFC was unable to offer Sokoudjou a satisfactory contract to fight in the organization as Sherdog is reporting that he has signed a 4-fight contract with EliteXC.

Although he has just 5 professional MMA fights and a 4-1 record, he holds wins over PRIDE stars Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona. Sokoudjou KO’d Nogueira in just 23 seconds at PRIDE 33 earlier this year and quickly followed the win with a 1 minute 59 second KO or Arona less than 2 months later.

His lone loss came against Glover Teixeira at WEC 24 in 2006. He became a free agent following the purchase of PRIDE and, like most of PRIDE’s top talent, was offered a UFC contract. That contract however was less than satisfactory and less than he made while with PRIDE so the contract was rejected and it appears EliteXC had the best offer for the promising young fighter.

Tags: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou