It’s a tough time to be a member of the old guard. Earlier today, reports surfaced that Melvin Guillard had been released from the UFC. Now, it sounds like Ivan Menjivar is gone as well. Menjivar is most notable for his early career loss to GSP on the Canadian regional scene, before lower weight classes were a mainstay in most MMA promotions. He’s fluctuated in weight quite a bit over the course of his MMA career, spending the majority of the last three years all the way down at 135 lbs. He recently moved back up to featherweight, where he met Hatsu Hioki earlier this month. Now, after dropping a lackluster decision to Hioki, MMA Fighting has learned that Menjivar has been released from the UFC.
Less than 24 hours after the UFC cut lightweight stalwart Melvin Guillard, Menjivar’s manager, Mitch Mayberger, informed MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani of the UFC’s decision to release Menjivar.
According to Mayberger, the 31-year-old bantamweight veteran intends to continue fighting.
“I will be feeling out the offers and discussing with Ivan and doing whatever works best for him,” Mayberger said.
Menjivar will end his 9 fight Zuffa tenure with a record of 4-5 (It’s 4-6 if you include his 2004 loss to Matt Serra at welterweight at UFC 48). While his UFC wins haven’t come against the strongest competition, most of his losses have been to top tier fighters. Much like Guillard, given Menjivar’s history of decent performances and propensity for not getting finished, it’s very likely that he’ll get picked up by another major promotion quickly. And while he’s been fighting since 2001 and has 37 fights under his belt, he’s only 31, so there’s every possibility that a couple of good wins see him make his way back to the UFC. Be sure to stay tuned as it looks like the UFC may be starting to clean house after months of roster expansion, so more cuts could be just around the corner.
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