Britain’s Brett Johns will compete in the 2024 Professional Fighters League regular season.
Johns, 32, has been named for the featherweight mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament, with the winner of each division set to earn $1m (£790,000).
His first bout will be against Russian Timur Khizriev in Chicago, Illinois, on 19 April.
“This is a big step up in competition – I’m not naive,” the Welshman told BBC Sport.
“It’s a chance for me to set me and my family up.”
Johns is on a three-fight winning streak having beaten David Tonatiuh Crol in December.
He says he has missed the “activity of fighting regularly”, something the PFL tournament will allow him to do.
“I feel like as a fighter, the last few years, or since signing to the UFC, I’ve been a very inactive fighter,” Johns added.
“Going back to 2012, I think I’ve had about eight fights and then last year one, so I’m happy to be back active again.”
Johns, from Swansea, could potentially fight four times between April and December.
Fellow Briton Dakota Ditcheva has already been named as competing in the women’s flyweight tournament.
“With the way that the tournament is formatted, I think featherweight will be a good decision,” Johns said.
“In mixed martial arts there are some big weights that you cut to make contracted weight.
“Cutting that weight will be a big factor and I feel like being a smaller guy this time round might favour me in the long run.”
Illinois will become the eighth US state Johns has fought in during his storied MMA career and he is relishing the prospect.
“I love the US, I love going there, there’s one hell of a buzz when you go out there to fight,” he said.
“I’ll be up against the best featherweights in the world outside the UFC so it’s going to be a difficult task.”
Retirement questions
Johns says he has “struggled to enjoy” his sport over the past 18 months, but now feels like he has “got that fire again”.
“I might retire next week or do it until the wheels fall off,” he added.
Johns boasts a professional record of 20 wins and three losses and is a two-time world champion.
He said in December he planned to go out of the sport “on his own terms”.
“Realistically I think I’ve achieved everything I want to in the sport in terms of winning world titles, fighting in the UFC, Bellator, PFL,” Johns said.
“I just feel like financially I’ve missed out on that side of the sport and winning that tournament would definitely fill that void I’ve got there.
“It’s more about winning another title really, but obviously the million dollars has got to be a big part of it. I’m just super excited to go in there and compete with the best guys in the world.”
