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UFC vet Chris Wade expected to join PFL

Ed Mulholland / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Another UFC alum is headed to the Professional Fighters League.

Mere days after welterweight Rick Story announced he'd joined the embryonic outfit formerly known as World Series of Fighting, lightweight Chris Wade told ESPN's Brett Okamoto he was finalizing a deal to do the same on Wednesday.

Wade announced he was a free agent in a December appearance on "The MMA Hour," and told Okamoto he had yet to field an offer to re-up with the UFC in the eight months since he fought out his contract with a unanimous decision over Frankie Perez at UFC on FOX 25 in July. The 30-year-old has listed a lack of promotional push and an adversarial relationship with the UFC's matchmakers among his grievances with the promotion, and now aims to make them rue letting him walk during the PFL's inaugural season.

"There's going to be a certain chip on my shoulder," Wade told ESPN. "I feel like I never got a chance against the best guys I wanted to test myself against in the UFC, and there's a lot left for me to prove.

"I told myself, if I'm going to stay in the fight game, the old Chris is dead. There's got to be a new sheriff in town. It has to be extremely violent and I have to prove (the UFC) f---ed up in how it handled things. If I don't do that, shame on me."

The PFL has not yet unveiled the details of its June campaign, which will pit fighters in regular-season matches culminating in a playoff format with $1 million on the line. Wade joins the outfit with a pro record of 12-3 after going 5-2 in the UFC.

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