Away from MMA since July last year, when he was released by the UFC , Roger Gracie has found a “new home”. The fighter signed a contract with One FC, on Thursday (7th), and should debut in the Asian organization  later this year.

Gracie confirmed the news with MMAFighting.com:

“I just signed with One FC,” he said.

Gracie (6-2) had left MMA in 2013 following a decision loss to middleweight Tim Kennedy in his sole UFC appearance. Before stepping away from the sport, he had earned victories over the likes of Kevin Randleman and Keith Jardine.

However, the 6’4″ Gracie is set to return to the cage, this time with a multi-fight deal with ONE FC, and he’s eying a promotional debut later this year.

“I had given up in fighting MMA, decided to go back to jiu-jitsu, but I got this offer and it changed my mind,” he told MMAFighting.com. “I’m going to do a few more MMA fights, and I still want to compete in jiu-jitsu.”

“I plan to do two or three (MMA) fights a year,” he said. “I will be 33 years old in a couple months, so realistically speaking I don’t have too many years as an athlete. Only a few extraordinary athletes can keep doing this until they are 40, but I don’t see myself fighting at 40 years old. I think I will retire by 36 or 38.”

The 10x Jiu-Jitsu world champion, also made clear his interest in acting to keep competing in Jiu-Jitsu competitions:

“I’m coming back to MMA now, but I will also do jiu-jitsu,” he said. “If I can’t enter tournaments like the (IBJJF) World Championship, I can do superfights. There are a lot of great talents out there that I would like to compete with.

“I’m super happy with everything that I’ve accomplished in jiu-jitsu, and everything that happens from now is good,” he continued. “I would be in a comfortable position if I decided to retire now, but I’m still young. It’s not the time for me to retire.

“My career in MMA wasn’t like my career in jiu-jitsu, but I also did a nice job. I’ve fought some great names. I have a few years ahead of me now, will do more MMA fights, some jiu-jitsu, and we’ll see what happens.”