Ross Pearson emerged as one of the early favorites on season 9 of Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter" which pitted Team United States against Team United Kingdom. And the young Brit didn't disappoint as he delivered on his potential with a victory over Andre Winner in the series finale to earn a six-figure UFC contract and become "The Ultimate Fighter" season 9 winner.

Pearson followed his initial success with a dominant TKO win against Aaron Riley at UFC 105, improving his record to 2-0 in the UFC and 9-1 in his last 10 fights. He now returns to the U.S. to face fellow up-and-coming lightweight Denis Siver at Ultimate Fight Night 21 on March 31.

"I'm looking forward to the fight with Siver, it's going to be an interesting fight," Pearson recently wrote in a blog for MMABay. "He's on a good run at the minute and he's hungry. He's a talented fighter. I think he has more of a kickboxer style whereas I have more of a Thai boxer style, so that leads to an interesting fight. I've been training with Dan Hardy, Tuesdays and Thursdays to get in a few rounds of sparring. He's looking good with his training. His wrestling is coming along well and his outfits are as funny as he is."

Siver, who fights out of Mannheim, Germany, is 14-6 in his career and 4-3 with the UFC. He's currently riding a four-fight winning streak. A win over Siver is sure to move Pearson up the lightweight rankings, but the 25-year-old Brit is also looking forward to returning to the United States just to visit.

"I'm super excited to be fighting in the U.S. again, I love the travelling, different states, different counties," Pearson stated. "It all makes the fight that little bit more exciting. Plus I get to see the world, when would I go to North Carolina on my own? I'm going there to fight, I'm going there for free, and getting paid so it's exciting."