Julio Arce looks back at ‘frustrating’ departure from UFC ahead of PFL Pittsburgh debut

Julio Arce enters the PFL cage for the first time this Saturday in Pittsburgh to battle undefeated featherweight prospect Alexei Pergande, a challenge that comes almost exactly two years after Arce’s tumultuous departure from the UFC. Arce completed his contract with the UFC with a second-round knockout over Herbert Burns after missing weight for a bout at UFC Atlantic City in March 2024, and waited in the dark for many months not knowing whether the promotion would offer him another deal. As it turns out, it didn’t.

“It was like a seven to eight month wait so then you just don’t know what’s happening,” Arce told MMA Fighting. “I’m seeing fights play out and I’m like, ‘Alright, give me somebody. ’ But again, you don’t really know.

I don’t know how the negotiations go behind the scenes when your contract is up, if they want to give you a chance to match or whatever. ” Arce won six of 10 bouts in the UFC against names such as Dan Ige and Julian Erosa. He’s happy with his tenure in the promotion, but left with a sour taste in his mouth.

“Honestly, that was the only little frustrating part because I know there’s, like, a whole wait period there,” Arce said. “If you could just be like, ‘Hey, we don’t want to continue. ’ You could have just told me right there.