UFC Cuts 13 Fighters [Report]
Cut day is never easy for the UFC, and this is likely no exception. It appears over a dozen UFC fighters have been released by the company.
The UFC roster, which has been swelling over recent years, saw some necessary cutbacks this week in the form of under-performing talents. The UFCFightersInfo Twitter, which runs off of a script update of UFC’s roster page, made note of several releases. You can see these changes below, courtesy of Bloody Elbow.
“Light Heavyweight: Hans Stringer
Middleweight: Dan Miller, Ildemar Alcantara, Tom Watson
Welterweight: Andrew Craig, Igor Araujo
Lightweight: Anthony Christodoulou, Yosdenis Cedeno
Featherweight: Niklas Backstrom, Aaron Phillips
Bantamweight: Cody Gibson, Royston Wee
Flyweight: Darrell Montague”
There weren’t any real shockers among the group, although some unfortunate stories. Dan Miller had experienced some major family issues, including losing a child in March 2009. Miller’s second child had struggled with health problems, and it appeared the UFC may have kept him on the roster to help him. Miller had won only one fight since 2010, and prior to his July loss to Trevor Smith, had been out of the cage for over two years. Still, Miller didn’t exactly get an easy route. The veteran squared off with the likes of Michael Bisping, Nate Marquardt, Rousimar Palhares, Jordan Mein, Demian Maia, and Chael Sonnen throughout his UFC career.
Royston Wee was perhaps a surprise, as the Singapore-based fighter went 2-1 in his stint with the UFC. The UFC as a whole was criticized for the hiring of Wee, who was only 2-0 when he signed a contract and hadn’t fought in several years. The UFC was, at the time, expanding into Asia and looking to recruit more talents from the area. Fortunately for Wee, he was able to secure victories in his first two UFC fights, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from getting the ax after his May loss to Ning Guangyou.
Darrell Montague proved to be a disappointment for the UFC, as he came in as a rather highly touted flyweight. Prior to his UFC debut, Montague had defeated Mamoru Yamaguchi but was thrown to the lions upon signing his contract, as he had to face title challengers John Dodson and Kyoji Horiguchi. Despite the thin nature of UFC’s flyweight division, Montague’s TKO loss to Willie Gates in July sealed his fate. At only 27, Montague is the most likely of the UFC cuts to end up back with the company.
What do you think? Were these cuts justifiable? Should anyone have stayed with the UFC?
[Photo via Brad Barket/Getty Images Sport]
