Farid Basharat has been released from the UFC after the conclusion of his current deal, despite having won all seven of his fights in the Octagon.
In fact, the 29-year-old Basharat has gone undefeated in his entire 16-fight career, starting with an 8-0 run on the regional scene, before winning a UFC contract after a victory on the Contender Series back in 2022.
He’s since kept that momentum going with seven wins under the UFC banner, including beating the likes of Chris Gutierrez, Taylor Lapilus, Jean Matsumoto and Da’Mon Blackshear.
Basharat’s last fight came back in July when he beat John Garza by unanimous decision, and afterwards publicly called for a new deal, while revealing that he’d actually fought with an ACL injury.
“Joe, you’ve been in the UFC the year I was born, 1997,” Basharat told Joe Rogan after his win on the prelims of UFC 329. “It was my last fight on my contract. I love this organization. I’m 16 and 0 now. I have the longest win streak in the weight division. I think I deserve a new contract first and foremost, don’t you think so?”
“Look, weight misses, injuries. I tore my MCL and my meniscus 3 weeks before this fight… All fight week, I was limping to my interviews. But I don’t care. I want to be the best in the world. This the UFC is my dream since I was 10 years old. And as long as I stay in this organization, I know 100% I’m going to be champion… I think I’m the most underrated fighter in this roster. I think I’m the most well-rounded guy in this roster, and I know I’m going to be the champion of this weight division. I just need opportunity to fight up. I need to be fighting up.”
Unfortunately for Basharat his plea has apparently fallen on deaf ears, and so he’s now suffered the same fate as his brother Javid, who arrived in the UFC as an 11-0 prospect via the Contender Series, put together a 4-2 (+1nc) record, and was then released off a win after his contract expired.
There’s no obvious reason for the brothers not being kept on by the promotion, other than the fact that nine of their ten combined wins in the UFC came via decision.
Javid has already moved on to sign with the PFL and picked up his first decision win back in August, so it’ll be interesting to see where Farid goes next.
