Frank Mir is free at last from the UFC and he is headed to Bellator MMA.

It’s well known that Mir had a historic tenure while competing in the largest MMA (mixed martial arts) promotion in the world. However, his time in the UFC has come to an end. The former heavyweight champion announced last month that he is no longer under contract with the UFC.

Mir, who holds an 18-11 MMA record, made his promotional debut back at UFC 34 in November of 2001 and has been with the UFC ever since then.

He has been campaigning for the UFC to cut ties with him for some time now after he was tagged by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USDA) for a violation following a fight in March of 2016 with hard-hitting Mark Hunt.

The 38-year-old fighter has expressed his interest in continuing his MMA career outside of the UFC which is where he has been for the last 16 years. Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting is reporting that Mir has agreed to terms with the promotion. Bellator is expected to officially announce his signing in the coming days.

What is going to be interesting is if state athletic commissions go along with his USADA suspension, which is under until April 2018. USADA only has ties to the UFC in MMA.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Mir discussed what his options are going forward with his career. He is leaning towards signing with Bellator MMA due to the fact that he wants a fight with MMA Legend Fedor Emelianenko.

“I think that would be a phenomenal fight to have on my name as far as somebody that I faced throughout my career,” Mir said. Fedor is kind of hard to nail down to one company. So I don’t want to get in a situation where I’ve been the last 16 years where I’m like, ‘Hey, I’d like to make this fight work, but I fight for the UFC and he won’t fight for the UFC,’ so that sucks. It was never gonna happen. So I kind of want to avoid that pitfall in the future.

“Not only am I selling myself as a fighter, but I’m also selling potential opponents in the future. Like, ‘Hey if you sign me, this is a potential fight you could make.’”

Now, it’s just a matter of time before the promotion pairs him up with Emelianenko.