There was shock news today from inside the UFC as it emerged that Jon Fitch is amongst 16 fighters who have been released from the promotion this week.
Fitch has had a rough spell of late, going 1-2-1 in his last four fights, but the level of competition was high, including Demian Maia, Erick Silva, Johny Hendricks and BJ Penn and overall his UFC record has been exceptional, going 14-3-1 over the past seven and a half years.
Like Jacob Volkmann who was also released from the UFC earlier today, Fitch has come under considerable criticism over the years for what some of branded a boring’, anti-fighting style in the Octagon, using superior wrestling to dominate fighters via positional control on the mat.
Still, Fitch remains one of the most notable 170lb fighters in the world and given his long years of service to the UFC it seems a harsh decision to cut him at this stage.
Fitch isn’t the only notable name on the list of fighters released from the UFC today though.
Others include the likes of veteran light-heavyweight fighter Vladimir Matyushenko who had lost his last two fights, the UK’s Terry Etim and Paul Sass who bow out with a 6-5 and 3-2 record respectively, heavyweight Mike Russow who was 4-2 in the UFC and Jorge Santiago who’s third stint in the promotion comes to an end after just one defeat.
Check out the full list of fighters who’ve been cut from the UFC below.
- Jon Fitch
- Wagner Prado
- Mike Russow
- Jacob Volkmann
- Vladimir Matyushenko
- Che Mills
- Jay Hieron
- Terry Etim
- Paul Sass
- Jorge Santiago
- Mike Stumpf
- Simeon Thoresen
- C.J. Keith
- Motonobu Tezuka
- Josh Grispi
- Ulysses Gomez
