Martin Buday has said he’s not holding a grudge with the UFC after being released from the promotion earlier this year at a time when he was on a three-fight winning streak and held a 7-1 record in the Octagon.

“No [ill will], not at all,” Buday told MMA Fighting. “I just said in some interviews before, I thank the UFC for the opportunity to be part of the roster. I’m thankful that they made me the fighter that I am today. It was a nice journey in the UFC.

“No hatred. No bad blood with UFC. I understand, I had some role there and they were asking me to get some finishes, which I didn’t get. It was their decision. No bad blood at all.”

The 34-year-old heavyweight went on to acknowledge that he was likely cut because his fighting style wasn’t entertaining enough, and didn’t deliver enough finishes, having only stopped one opponent in eight fights.

“Wins matter most, definitely more than if I lost to Marcus. But it’s the UFC, it’s a big business, big show and the fighters there need to be more entertaining in other ways or maybe outside the cage. It depends.

“For me, winning was the most important thing. I would like to get some finishes in my fights and I was getting better from the fight. It probably wasn’t enough in my case.”

Buday’s first fight since being released took place yesterday after this interview, but it didn’t go his way, suffering a quick TKO loss to Will Fleury in the Oktagon promotion.