Following his release from World Victory Road's Sengoku organization earlier this week, top-ten ranked middleweight Jorge Santiago (23-8) has already decided on what promotion he will continue his fighting career with as the American Top Team trained fighter has reportedly signed a contract with the UFC.

News of Santiago's signing with the UFC was first reported by ESPN.com, who confirmed the Brazilian's signing with company President Dana White. White also revealed that Santiago will likely make his Octagon return at UFC 130 on May 28.

The San Jose-based Strikeforce promotion was also a front runner to land Santiago's services. Santiago previously fought for Strikeforce in November 2007, where he scored first round knockouts over UFC veterans Sean Salmon and Trevor Prangley in the promotion's one night, four-man middleweight grand prix.

Santiago's decision to sign with UFC over Strikeforce is actually a little bit of surprise to some in the industry, as insiders and even those close to Santiago thought he enjoyed his brief stint with Strikeforce. Some also thought Santiago would have signed with Strikeforce based on his desire to continue competing in Japan, as the promotion's contracts are typically open and allow fighters to compete overseas.

Santiago previously competed for the UFC from June 2006 to December 2006, going 1-2 over that span with the promotion. He defeated the late Justin Levens in his Octagon debut, however, he would go onto lose his next two UFC fights to Chris Leben and Alan Belcher, which led to his release from the organization.

Since his exit from the UFC, Santiago has been on a tear putting together an 11-1 mark over a 12 fight span, which included a 7-1 record with Sengoku. He is currently on a two-fight winning streak, most recently defeating Kazuo Misaki at last August's Sengoku 14 event in what was considered a 2010 "Fight of the Year" candidate.

Santiago's lone loss over his nearly flawless three-year, 12-fight run came against Mamed Khalidov at Sengoku 11, however, he would go on to avenge the loss to Khalidov in his next fight at Sengoku 12.

During his eight-year career, Santiago has also competed for other notable promotions such as King of the Cage, Art of War, HOOKnSHOOT and Absolute Fighting Championships. He has shown to be a very well-rounded fighter over his career, finishing 21 of his 23 career wins including 12 by submission and the other 9 coming by TKO or KO.

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 130 right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!