Norman Parke announces first fight since his UFC release

'Stormin' Norman Parke is not giving up on the fight dream yet.

The Antrim fighter was cut by the UFC on April Fool's Day, of all days, having lost three of his last four fights with the promotion. Going into January 2015, Parke was 20-2-1 in his professional career and had four wins and a draw in his first five UFC outings. Two split decision defeats stalled his momentum and, despite his loss to Rustam Khabilov, his axing came as a big shock. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/716027873572814848 Parke has not allowed the UFC's culling to slow him down. He has lined up a September bout against an undefeated opponent in the Final Fight Championship. On his Facebook page, this morning, the lightweight wrote:

'I'm now announcing that my next fight will be against undefeated 10-0 striker "Valdo Sikic" this will be main event on FFC in Austria, September. 'This is where my next journey starts; I will be heading out Thailand to prepare for this fight and be in the best possible shape I can. I promise to finish him in this fight and get back to my best.'

Still only 29 years young, a couple of notable wins in other promotions could yet earn Parke a return route to the UFC or Bellator.