UFC signs ‘scary’ PFL champion who will ‘wreck’ heavyweight rivals

The UFC heavyweight division just got a lot more dangerous, thanks to a recent signing by the Las Vegas-based MMA promotion.

On Friday afternoon, MMA Fighting reporter Guilherme Cruz revealed that the UFC has recruited Ante Delija, one of the best heavyweights outside the promotion.

Former PFL heavyweight champion Ante Delija has signed with the UFC, per sources. Story coming to @MMAFighting.

— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) June 20, 2025

How good is new UFC heavyweight Ante Delija?

Hardcore MMA fans will remember the name Ante Delija. The Croatian heavyweight won the PFL heavyweight title in 2022, and holds wins over a number of notable fighters. His resume includes wins over former UFC stars Maurice Greene and Ricco Rodriguez. He also beat former PFL champ Renan Ferreira, who was famously blown away by Francis Ngannou recently. Other highlights of his resume include wins over Denis Golstov, and Valentijn Overeem, the brother of former K-1 and Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem.

Delija’s resume is impressive enough that veteran MMA reporter Tom Taylor suggested he will “wreck”a lot of the fighters in the UFC heavyweight rankings right now.

Ante Delija is a lot better than his resume indicates. He’s a scary heavyweight. He’s going to wreck a lot of guys in the UFC top-10. https://t.co/bEuFAVVjC2

— Tom Taylor (@TomTaylorWrites) June 20, 2025

“Ante Delija is a lot better than his resume indicates,” Taylor wrote. “He’s a scary heavyweight. He’s going to wreck a lot of guys in the UFC top-10.”

Delija currently sports a 25-6 record at 34 years of age. It’s perhaps naive to assume he could beat the likes of Tom Aspinall or Jailton Almeida, but there is no question he is good enough to beat a lot of the heavyweight top-15. After all, there are hardly more than 15 fighters on the UFC heavyweight roster right now. You really only need to win once to enter the rankings.

How do you think former PFL heavyweight champ Ante Delija will do in the UFC?