The UFC pulled a surprising move on Wednesday, but it had nothing to do with a fight no one expected. Instead, the UFC gave the pink slip to several fighters, including one former title contender with an impressive UFC record.
According to MMAFighting, these fighters have been cut:
Jon Fitch, Wagner Prado, Mike Russow, Jacob Volkmann, Vladimir Matyushenko, Che Mills, Jay Hieron, Terry Etim, Paul Sass, Jorge Santiago, Mike Stumpf, Simeon Thoresen, C.J. Keith, Motonobu Tezuka, Josh Grispi, Ulysses Gomez
Though Fitch fought and lost to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 87, he is 1-2-1 in his last four fights and has a reputation for putting on grinding, slower-paced fights. Jacob Volkmann and Mike Russow have the same reputation. Santiago went 0-2 in the UFC, left and won one fight, then lost again over the weekend. After putting together an impressive run in the UFC, Grispi lost four fights in a row in the UFC.
Every one of the fighters is coming off of at least one loss. In the past, a fighter would worry about his job if he lost two fights in a row. However, MMA Junkie's John Morgan says the UFC is looking to trim its roster. With fighters coming over from Strikeforce, and the addition of the men's flyweight and women's bantamweight divisions, the UFC is going to have to make more tough decisions like this. Fighters have to win to keep their job.
