One of welterweight’s most entertaining action fighters is on his way out of the UFC. Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira fought out his contract with the world’s largest MMA promotion against Kevin Holland back at UFC 272 in March and, following his removal from the promotion’s website, MMA Junkie has confirmed that the UFC has made the decision not to sign the Brazilian fighter to a new deal.
First debuting against Gilbert Burns, back at Maia vs. LaFlare in 2015, Oliveira made 22 trips to the Octagon over the last seven years. That included victories over Tim Means, Carlos Condit, and former Bellator champion Will Brooks, on his way to a 11-10 (1 NC) record with the UFC.
More recently, the 34-year-old has struggled to get his hand raised in the cage—with a four fight losing streak, and just two wins stretching all the way back to 2018. Still, win or lose, Oliveira made a rock solid reputation for himself as an always-entertaining action fighter with a kick-heavy distance striking attack and an aggressively gritty grappling game.
All things considered, it seems unlikely that this move from the UFC will mark the end of Oliveira’s combat sports career. The ATS Team fighter has made no bones about his need to support his family through fighting.
“I want to knock him out to see if I can get a bonus,” OIiveira said in an interview, ahead of his most recent fight against Kevin Holland. “Get the biggest finish of the night and win a bonus. I need the money.”
Hopefully he lands back on his feet with a new promotional home sometime in the not too distant future.
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