Four fighters have received that unwanted call that they’ve been released from the UFC.
MMA Fighting reported on Friday that lightweight Roosevelt Roberts, bantamweights Anderson dos Santos, Jamey Simmons, and Drako Rodriguez have all been let go by the promotion after their respective losses.
Roberts (10-3, 1 NC) is the most notable name on this list, having earned his UFC contract through a win on Dana White’s Contender Series. After wins over Darrell Horcher and Thomas Gifford, Roberts experienced his first professional loss when Vinc Pichel bested him by unanimous decision.
Victories over Alexander Yakovlev and Brok Weaver appeared to put him back on track, but his career has unraveled since then. Jim Miller submitted him in June of last year, as did Kevin Croom (which was overturned to a no contest due to Croom testing positive for marijuana), and last month he was spectacularly KO’d by Ignacio Bahamondes with a wheel kick in a fight he was losing on the scorecards anyway.
Dos Santos (21-9) was brutally knocked out by Miles Johns at UFC 265, giving him three losses in his last four fights. Rodriguez (7-3) got his UFC contract via Contender Series but ended up losing to both Aiemann Zahabi and Vince Morales, and evidently just two fights was all the UFC needed to see. Simmons (7-4) debuted in the UFC on short notice and lost to current featherweight contender Giga Chikadze by knockout. He dropped back down to bantamweight but ended up with a submission defeat to Johnny Munoz at UFC 265.
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