Emil Meek is one of five fighters who have just been released by the UFC, with the others being Roque Martinez, Alexander Yakovlev, Joe Ellenberger and Lara Procopio.
The 32-year-old Meek’s release is perhaps not too surprising given that he hadn’t fought since February of last year and was in the midst of a three-fight losing streak, having lost out by unanimous decision to Kamaru Usman, Bartosz Fabinski and then Jake Matthews.
That leaves Meek with just one win to show from his four-fight UFC run, picking up a unanimous decision win against Jordan Mein in his promotional debut back in 2016.
Heavyweight Roque Martinez had also suffered a trio of defeats, losing out to Alexander Romanov, Don’Tale Mayes and Josh Parisian, and so he exits the UFC without securing a win.
Alexander Yakovlev had been with the promotion for seven years, shifting between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, but had only won once in his past five Octagon outings, with losses against the likes of Kamaru Usman, Zak Cummings, Roosevelt Roberts and Joel Alvarez sealing his fate.
News of Joe Ellenberger’s release is curious in that it would have been natural to assume that he already had been cut after not having fought since a TKO loss to Bryan Barberena back in 2014.
Ellenberger, the brother of former UFC fighter Jake, was still on USADA’s drug-testing program however, having still harbored ambitions to return to his fighting career despite battling a rare blood disorder, in addition to eye issues.
Finally, the 25-year-old Lara Procopio has been released after losing two of her three fights in the UFC, with a unanimous decision win over Molly McCann being overshadowed by losses to Karol Rosa and Casey O’Neill.
