RE: UFC
Can't say I'm surprised to be honest, he was going nowhere, I can't believe they released Paul Sass & Terry Etim though, it looks like they've fell foul the the UFC wanting to make way for the women & Strikeforce fighters. They make enough money to keep fighters like Sass 13-2 (3-2 UFC) surely.
UFC releases Jon Fitch, Vladimir Matyushenko, 14 others
UFC veteran and former title challenger Jon Fitch and Vladimir Matyushenko are among a deep list of fighters released by the Ultimate Fighting Championship this week.
MMA Fighting on Wednesday first reported the news, citing UFC President Dana White.
Along with Fitch and Matyushenko, the list of cuts includes Terry Etim, Ulysses Gomez, Josh Grispi, Che Mills, Jorge Santiago, Paul Sass and Motonobu Tezuka, all of whom lost their fights at this past weekend's UFC on FUEL TV 7 event in London.
Also on the cut list were Jay Hieron, C.J. Keith, Wagner Prado, Mike Russow, Mike Stumpf, Simeon Thoresen and Jacob Volkmann. The Volkmann news was reported earlier Wednesday. All those fighters were coming off losses.
Sources close to the UFC told MMAjunkie.com the UFC plans to release as many as 100 fighters in 2013, a byproduct of the recent start of the women's division as well as taking on the contracts of fighters from Strikeforce following the closing of that promotion.
The news on Fitch (24-5-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC) is sure to send a quick shockwave through the MMA world, as the Indiana native and longtime American Kickboxing Academy welterweight has been considered one of the best 170 pounders in the world for years. In 2008, Fitch fought champion Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title, losing by unanimous decision. He had started his UFC career 8-0 and the loss was his first after a 16-fight win streak.
After that setback, Fitch ran off five more in a row before a majority draw with B.J. Penn at UFC 127. And then things hit a bit of a slide for him. At UFC 141, Fitch was knocked out in just 12 seconds by Johny Hendricks. He rebounded with a decision win over Erick Silva at UFC 153, but at UFC 156 earlier this month, he was dominated by Demian Maia in a unanimous decision loss.
In the UFC's most recent rankings, Fitch is ranked No. 9 in the promotion's Top 10.
Matyushenko (26-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) returned in January after a layoff of more than a year and was submitted in 50 seconds by Ryan Bader at UFC on FOX 6. That gave him two straight losses after a first-round TKO setback against top light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 141. But before that, Matyushenko had two straight wins and five in his past six, with the only loss coming to future champion Jon Jones.
Etim (15-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC), whose 11 UFC fights include five bonuses, lost a unanimous decision to Renne Forte at UFC on FUEL TV 7 for his third setback in four fights. Gomez (9-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC), part of an already shallow flyweight division, dropped a controversial unanimous decision to Phil Harris in Saturday's opening bout in London; most media scored the fight for Gomez.
Grispi (14-5 MMA, 0-4 UFC) was perhaps not surprising, as his loss to Andy Ogle dropped him to 0-4 in the UFC. Mills (15-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) dropped a split decision to Matthew Riddle to open up Saturday's main card, giving him two losses in his past three fights. Santiago (25-11 MMA, 1-5 UFC) saw his UFC struggles continue in his third stint with the company, losing a unanimous decision to Gunnar Nelson in a short-notice fight as an injury replacement.
Sass (13-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) was let go after back-to-back losses in his home country of England despite starting his career 13-0 and 3-0 in the UFC with two bonus wins. And Tezuka (19-6-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) was dominated by Vaughan Lee to fall to 0-2 in the promotion.
Hieron (23-7 MMA, 0-4 UFC) made a high-profile return to the UFC this past fall, but dropped a unanimous decision to Jake Ellenbeger. At UFC 156 earlier this month, he was knocked out by Tyron Woodley in just 36 seconds to fall to 0-4 in two stints with the promotion.
Keith (8-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) was submitted by Francisco Trinaldo at UFC on FX 7 in January, giving him two straight losses. Prado (8-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) was submitted by Ildemar Alcantara at UFC on FX 7 to give him two straight losses and a no contest in the promotion.
Russow (15-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) started his UFC career 4-0, including a high-profile comeback knockout of Todd Duffee. But back-to-back losses to Fabricio Werdum and Shawn Jordan led to the heavyweight's release. Stumpf (11-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) dropped a unanimous decision to Pascal Krauss in front of his home Chicago fans at UFC on FOX 6 in January, giving him two straight setbacks.
Simeon Thoresen (17-4-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) lost to David Mitchell on the same card for his second straight defeat. And Volkmann (15-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) was submitted by Bobby Green for his second loss in three fights after a five-fight win streak at lightweight.
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