The UFC are in the midst of a round of pre-Christmas cuts from the roster, and the latest fighter on the chopping block is Rhys McKee.

“Disappointed to part ways with the UFC, before some roster watch let’s everyone know,” McKee wrote on Instagram yesterday. “Silver lining coming.”

This is not a new experience for the 30-year-old ‘Skeletor’ as this was the Irish fighter’s second stint in the Octagon over the years.

McKee was initially signed to the UFC in 2020 after a stint in the Cage Warriors promotion, but he couldn’t have asked for a worse debut match-up, being paired with Khamzat Chimaev, who swiftly TKO’d him in the opening round.

A subsequent decision loss to Alex Morono later that year brought an end to McKee’s brief time in the UFC and he then returned to the Cage Warriors promotion, where he racked up three wins in a row.

That led him to be re-signed by the UFC in 2023, but his second shot in the promotion hasn’t gone much better than the first, losing three of his four fights, though he did finally get his first victory in the Octagon back in April when he earned a convincing 1st round TKO win over Daniel Frunza.

So, McKee now leaves the UFC with his total record in the promotion now standing at just 1-6, though his overall career record is 14-7.