Slowly, but surely, the UFC continues to peck away at it’s 385 man roster (I don’t know where Dana gets 470). Today that 100 fighter manifesto appears to have moved a little further along with the suspected release of an additional 7 fighters.
Today’s Cut List:
Philip De Fries
Chris Spang
Jimmy Quinlan
Collin Hart
Kevin Casey
Gilbert Smith Jr.
Adam Cella
First things first, this is entirely based upon the fighter’s removal from the active roster list at UFC.com. I have not spoken to, or heard from, these fighters in question pertaining to their release. However I’ve been following the UFC rosters for a while now. And I can speak from experience when I say that all of these fighters have almost certainly been released from their contracts.
Phil De Fries is no surprise, coming off a two fight losing streak to Todd Duffee and Matt Mitrione, both by knockout. Add to that that he has never really impressed in his UFC tenure, and it’s little surprise that his last loss brought on the pink slip.
For Chris Spang this is a little surprising. He’s young, has a recent TKO victory over Nah-Shon Burrell, and his loss to Amagov, while one sided, wasn’t particularly bad. But as Caros Fodor found out, for Strikeforce crossovers, excitement is key. Any losing effort that fails to impress will most likely result in being shown the door.
As expected the losers from the recent TUF 17 finale all appear to have been given the boot as well. The only surprises in that swath are Collin Hart, who lost a razor close decision to Luke Barnatt (a fight I felt he won) and Bristol Marunde, who appears to have avoided the cut altogether. Perhaps that’s in payment for his willingness to step up on short notice, or for his impressive impromptu dancing skills. Either way, I wouldn’t be that surprised if his name comes off the board sometime in the next month.
For a complete, up to date list, of all the recent UFC cuts and acquisitions check out my nifty list.
UPDATE: Thanks to BE reader Chromium for pointing out that Besam Yousef appears to have been released as well.
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