UFC vet Rick Story signs with PFL for $1 million welterweight tournament

The PFL has snagged another notable MMA veteran for a $1 million tournament.

Welterweight veteran Rick Story (19-9 UFC, 12-7 UFC) has left the UFC and signed on with the rebranded promotion to join a tourney at 170 pounds, a PFL official confirmed today to MMAjunkie. Story first announced his signing on “The MMA Hour.”

PFL (formerly WSOF) will kick off its tournaments on June 7, though Story’s debut is likely to take place later that month, the PFL official said.

As MMAjunkie previously reported, the PFL tournaments will be contested over seven weight classes, from bantamweight to heavyweight. There will be 12 fighters in each weight class, each of whom will receive three fights during the promotion’s regular season. Fighters receive points based on wins and losses. Leading fighters then fight in a seeded tournament for a $1 million payout.

The entire payout pool for the league is $10 million in the first season, leaving $3 million to pay out for regular-season fights and tournament fights ahead of the finals. The PFL’s regular season will feature 18 events.

The promotion has yet to announce the full roster for its first season. But this past month, UFC vet and former Bellator champ Will Brooks announced he’d signed on after being cut by the industry leader.

Story hasn’t fought since August 2016, when he was stopped by Donald Cerrone in the second round of their meeting at UFC 202. Story told “The MMA Hour” that he took the PFL offer because it was a better deal for his career.

“I’m just going to say it’s worth my while,” Story said. “And stacking on top the format they have and being able to win that amount of money just by winning, it kind of suits my interest, because it’s performance-based. You win, you get paid more. You lose, you’re out. It’s just cut and dried.”

For more on the PFL’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.