Former UFC flyweight title challenger Wilson Reis signs multifight deal with Cage Warriors

Wilson Reis is among five new long-term additions to the Cage Warriors roster.

Reis (25-12) a former UFC flyweight title challenger, has signed an exclusive deal with the London-based promotion. Along with Reis, Cage Warriors has signed former Bellator fighter Gavin Hughes (10-3), Festus Ahorlu (5-1), Orlando Prins (3-1) and Bogdan Barbu (17-13) to multifight deals, the promotion announced Friday.

No matchups or date were announced for any of the fighters with new deals.

The 37-year-old Reis, from Brazil, remains under the Cage Warriors banner. At Cage Warriors 50 in Scotland, he submitted Owen Roddy in the third round. Not long after that, he signed with the UFC.

After two bantamweight fights, he dropped to flyweight. After five wins in six fights at 125 pounds, he got a crack at then-champion Demetrious Johnson in a main event in April 2017. Johnson submitted Reis in the third round in Kansas City, which started a slump of four losses in five fights.

After losses to eventual two-division champion Henry Cejudo and former title challenger John Moraga, Reis bounced back with a win over Ben Nguyen. But a TKO loss to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 236 in April 2019 was his final fight int he promotion.

Reis has gone 2-2 since then, including a split decision win over Jeremiah Labiano at Cage Warriors 133 in San Diego in March – his first fight for the promotion in more than nine years.

Hughes, from Liverpool, comes to Cage Warriors on the heels of a three-fight stint in Bellator. He went 1-2 for the promotion, all in fights in Europe. After a 2019 submission win over Mohammad Yahya in Birmingham, he had a first-round submission loss to Daniele Scatizzi in Italy and, most recently, a first-round TKO loss to Yves Landu at Bellator 280 in London in May.