The UFC appears to be making some cuts to it’s roster and two notable veterans are amongst the casualties so far – Gleison Tibau and Tom Lawlor.
Tibau is practically part of the furniture in the UFC, having clocked in 28 fights – tied for the second most in the history of the company.
However, the 35-year-old’s 12-year stint in the promotion has finally come to an end after a four-fight losing streak against Tony Ferguson, Abel Trujillo, Islam Makhachev and Desmond Green.
“There are many offers coming, but nothing is set yet,” Tibau told mmafighting.com as to what might be next in store for him. “Rizin offered me a fight with Takanori Gomi on two weeks’ notice, but I was in Brazil, I was taking care of my cookie business and wasn’t even training, so I couldn’t take it. ACB also sent me an offer, but then they cancelled some cards, so I turned it down.
“Bellator asked me to wait a little bit, but they are interested. There’s also a promotion from Abu Dhabi, another one in Russia as well. I will sign one-fight deals only so I remain free.”
Also being shown the exit door is Lawlor, who was actually only two months removed from completing a two-year suspension after testing positive for Ostarine.
Prior to that Lawlor was coming off a loss to Corey Anderson, but had been on a two-fight winning streak prior to that.
“All things come to an end and it was inevitable that so would my time in UFC,” Lawlor confirmed on F4W Online. “Today I was informed that I will be released by the UFC despite my USADA suspension being nearly over and my previous requests for a release being denied. While the timing is unexpected, hopefully this opens the doors for me to continue with my mixed martial arts career as well as in the squared circle (pro wrestling). Combat sports is one of my life’s great loves and I look forward to showing and sharing that with the fans as soon as possible.”
