Andrew Sanchez is no longer a UFC fighter.
The 33-year-old has been released from the promotion, per a report from Damon Martin of MMA Fighting on Wednesday.
Sanchez competed on Season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia as a light heavyweight. He was selected to be a part of Team Cláudia — spearheaded by perennial strawweight contender Cláudia Gadelha — and earned a spot in the semifinals with a unanimous decision win over Myron Dennis. Sanchez met Eric Spicely and finished him by way of first-round knockout to advance to the finals. The finale saw Sanchez dominate Khalil Rountree Jr. and secure a UFC contract.
Sanchez returned to the middleweight division for his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov, where he bested Trevor Smith via unanimous decision. ‘El Dirte’ stumbled in his next Octagon appearances as he suffered back-to-back third-round knockouts to Anthony Smith and Ryan Janes at UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Reis and The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion Finale, respectively. Sanchez rebounded from those losses with wins over Markus Perez and Marc-André Barriault but dropped a decision to Marvin Vettori.
For his final appearances under the UFC banner, Sanchez went 1-2. He knocked out Wellington Turman at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleinik and was then stopped by Makhmud Muradov and Bruno Silva at UFC 257 and UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs. Dumont.
Sanchez completes his UFC career with an overall record of 5-5, with four of those five losses being knockouts.
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