Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski announced a new deal with Strikeforce. The deal is expected to include mutliple fights and will last 16 months. The deal ends a year-long layoff from MMA.

Arlovski will return to action against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at the Strikeforce’s May 15 Showtime-televised event in St. Louis.

“I cannot wait to get into the ring and show the world what I have been working on the last few months,” wrote Arlovski (15-7). Arlovski who won five-straight fights over Roy Nelson, Ben Rothwell, and Fabricio Werdum between 2006 and 2008 before losing to Fedor Emelianenko in Affliction last January and then dropping his Strikeforce debut to Brett Rogers in June.