Dana White has made several big-name cuts during his latest UFC roster purge.
As MMA’s premier promotion continues to grow with the addition of Contender Series alumni, some of the more established names are losing their spots in the big league.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that seven fighters had been cut by the UFC.
The list included an exciting heavyweight KO artist, a top 10 flyweight contender, and a woman who once fought Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the strawweight title.
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Robelis Despaigne’s UFC run is over
The most notable of the seven cut fighters is heavyweight Robelis Despaigne.
There was widespread excitement when he signed for the UFC last year.
Not only did he enter the Octagon as an Olympic medalist in taekwondo, but the 6ft 7in Cuban heavyweight also broke a Jon Jones record before stepping foot in the UFC cage.
Despaigne’s 87-inch reach is better than any fighter in company history, and it seemed like it may help him be successful when he KO’d Josh Parisian in his UFC debut.
However, back-to-back decision defeats have led to the UFC bosses deciding that the 5-2 36-year-old will never become a contender in their relatively shallow heavyweight division.
Despaigne hasn’t commented on his release yet. Luckily for him, there’s sure to be plenty of interest from the UFC’s rivals, who will be keen to snap up such a physical specimen.
Who else was cut?
Matheus Nicolau is probably the best of the bunch receiving their marching orders as he’s still ranked among the top 10 flyweight fighters on the UFC roster.
The 31-year-old boasts big-name wins over Manel Kape and Matt Schnell, but he’s lost three consecutive fights against Brandon Royval, Alex Perez, and Asu Almabayev.
Jessica Penne was one of two women who were part of these latest cuts by the UFC.
At the height of her career, Penne fought for UFC gold, but since then she’s lost five fights and served a 20-month drug ban after testing positive for stanozolol.
At 41 years old and on a three-fight winless streak, it makes sense that MMA’s best league opted against extending her stay.
Jesse Butler was also cut after a 0-2 run at bantamweight where Charalampos Grigoriou also lost back-to-back fights before being released.
Vinicius Salvador went 0-3 in the Octagon at 135lbs, while Tamires Vidal lost three fights and got cut after impressing with a flying knee KO in her November 2022 promotional debut.