It’s happening again. Longtime fans of the UFC are used to occasional fighter purges – the mixed martial arts company’s roster gets a little too bloated and all of a sudden rumors start flying that a significant number of people are getting let go. In 2011, the promotion dropped the number of fighters from 290 to 200 after folding the WEC into their organization. And then in 2013 they absorbed another MMA company called Strikeforce and cut back from 475 fighters to 375.
Now in 2015, another adjustment to the overall roster is occurring. The current number of fighters is sitting at a hefty 500, which the UFC allegedly wants to get down to 450. For the mathematically moronic, that’s 50 spots on the chopping block and the promotion is already hacking through them. Here’s a list of fighters who have been released over the past two weeks:
- Amir Sadollah
- Soa Palelei
- TJ Waldburger
- Marcus Brimage
- Vagner Rocha
- David Michaud
- Chris Clements
- Ivan Jorge
- Francisco Trevino
- Pawel Pawlak
- Hernani Perpetuo
- Naoyuki Kotani
- Roger Narvaez
- Luke Zachrich
- William Macario
- Eddie Gordon
- Matt Van Buren
- Leonardo Mafra
- Christos Giagos
- Ron Stallings
- Roger Zapata
- Joe Merritt
- Lewis Gonzalez
We’ve put the more significant names at the top of this list – Amir Sadollah was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 7, and a popular underdog since he arrived at the competition with zero professional fights under his belt. He hadn’t fought in over a year, though, so the UFC probably decided it was time to end his six-year run in the league. According to reports, Soa Palelei is actually retiring, although it isn’t clear whether he retired because he was cut or he was cut because he retired. He recently raised headlines after a hospital in Australia refused to let him attend a charity event with children due to his involvement in cagefighting.
The UFC has never been known to be an organization with great job security. Two losses in a row is often all it takes for an undercard fighter to get the axe, and even popular fighters with bankable names have found themselves out of a job after a three-loss skid. And then there are these purges, which happen every two-and-a-half years as the UFC lays out its plans for the year ahead and does the math on how many fighters the company actually needs.
The above list is only 23 names long, which means we’re not even halfway through the Great Fighter Purge of 2015. Everyone fighting on the next couple of cards is probably very aware that it isn’t a great time to lose your next match.
(Via Bloody Elbow)