the UFC has revealed that two top 15 ranked flyweight competitors, Ali Bagautinov and Zach Makovsky, are no longer with the promotion after they opted not to renew their contracts.
Bagautinov is a former 125lb title challenger and was ranked at No.7 in the division prior to his departure, but he has been going through a rough patch of form lately with just one win in his last four fights.
The Russian’s UFC career began brightly with three wins in a row, earning him a title shot against Demetrious Johnson in 2014, but not only would he lose the fight by unanimous decision, but he’d also test positive for EPO afterwards, leading to a one year suspension from the sport.
Upon his return he then lost to Joseph Benavidez, but though he got back to winning ways on the scorecards against Gene Herrera in June of last year, he’s since dropped another loss to Kyoji Horiguchi, which led to the UFC’s decision to let him go.
As for former Bellator bantamweight champion Machovsky, he too has endured a tough series of results in the flyweight division over the past few years, losing four of his last five fights, though he wa still clinging to the No.12 spot in the divisional rankings.
Jussier Formiga, John Dodson, Joseph Benavidez and Dustin Ortiz have all earned decision wins over Machovsky during that period, with his lone win coming against Tim Elliott in early 2015, and so the UFC have decided his services are also no longer required.
