Depth By 100 Cuts: 100 UFC Fighters Who Could Be Fighting For Their Jobs

By Adam Martin

It was announced this week by UFC president Dana White that the promotion needs to cut more than 100 fighters off its roster, and the cuts started this week when Jon Fitch and 15 others got their pink slips. According to White, Fitch was released due to a combination of his high salary and his recent losing skid, despite the fact he was ranked No. 9 in the UFC Official Rankings as late as Wednesday morning.

If a stud like Fitch can be cut, then no one on the roster is safe.

Here is a list of 100 fighters who could potentially lose their jobs due to the UFC’s decision to cut their roster budget. The fighters are organized alphabetically by weight class, with their UFC record listed beside them

This list is not intended to disrespect any of the fighters on it, but rather to highlight the mass effect the UFC’s roster purge will have on the fighters. Some of the names on this list may shock you, but remember that no one is deemed essential in this sport.

Also note that every fighter on the list is coming off a loss or No Contest:

(FYI: The UFC women’s bantamweight division was left off the list because no fights have taken place in it yet.)

Heavyweight (29 Fighters Currently Under Contract)

The heavyweight division doesn’t have that many fighters in it, but there are a few guys who have been knocked out or submitted in their last fights and who are at risk of being cut.

1. Phil De Fries (2-2)

2. Shane Del Rosario (0-2)

3. Dave Herman (1-3)

4. Christian Morecraft (1-3)

5. Ben Rothwell (2-3)

6. Brendan Schaub (4-3)

Light Heavyweight (36 Fighters Currently Under Contract)

The light heavyweight division isn’t the deepest, but it’s possible the UFC considers the following fighters for cuts.

7. Joey Beltran (4-5)

8. Roger Hollett (0-1)

9. Fabio Maldonado (1-3)

10. Eduardo Oliveira (0-1)

11. Anthony Perosh (3-4)

12. Igor Pokrajac (4-5)

13. Krzysztof Sozsynski (6-3)

Middleweight (50 Fighters Currently Under Contract)

There are quite a few wrestlers in this division who employ a style the UFC doesn’t like that could be in trouble.

14. Magnus Cedenblad (0-1)

15. Andrew Craig (2-1)

16. Tim Credeur (3-2)

17. Jared Hamman (2-4)

18. Tom Lawlor (4-4)

19. Chris Leben (12-8)

20. Jason MacDonald (6-8)

21. Caio Magalhaes (0-1)

22. Rousimar Palhares (7-4)

23. Yoel Romero (0-0)

24. Alessio Sakara (6-7, 1 No Contest)

25. Jake Shields (2-2, 1 No Contest)

26. Sean Spencer (0-1)

27. Clifford Starks (1-1)

28. Karlos Vemola (2-3)

Welterweight (75 Fighters Currently Under Contract)

One of the deepest divisions in the UFC, there are numerous fighters in the division who are coming off losses and who are not ranked anywhere near the top 10.

29. Papy Abedi (0-2)

30. Yoshihiro Akiyama (1-4)

31. Lance Benoist (0-1)

32. Nah-Shon Burrell (0-0)

33. Nick Catone (3-4)

34. Brock Jardine (0-1)

35. Robbie Lawler (4-3)

36. Duane Ludwig (4-5)

37. Neil Magny (0-0)

58. John Maguire (2-2)

39. Jon Manley (0-0)

40. Court McGee (3-2)

41. Josh Neer (6-8)

42. Kenny Robertson (0-2)

43. Amir Sadollah (6-4)

44. Brad Scott (0-1)

45. Mike Swick (10-4)

46. Paulo Thiago (4-5)

47. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (1-1)

48. Yuri Villefort (0-0)

49. Keith Wisniewski (0-3)

50. Besam Yousef (1-2)

Lightweight (75 Fighters Currently Under Contract)

Another division that’s extremely deep, and just like at welterweight there are a lot of fighters who are coming off poor losses and who could be fighting for their jobs.

51. Mark Bocek (7-5)

52. Roger Bowling (0-0)

53. Fabricio Camoes (1-2-1)

54. John Cholish (1-1)

55. Mitch Clarke (0-2)

56. Mac Danzig (5-6)

57. Colin Fletcher (0-1)

58. Tony Ferguson (3-1)

59. Melvin Guillard (11-8)

60. Al Iaquinta (0-1)

61. Michael Johnson (4-3)

62. Lucas Martins (0-1)

63. Anthony Njokuani (2-3)

64. KJ Noons (0-0)

65. Vinc Pichel (0-1)

66. Joe Proctor (1-1)

67. Mike Ricci (0-1)

68. Aaron Riley (3-5)

69. Justin Salas (1-1)

70. George Sotiropoulos (7-3)

71. Thiago Tavares (7-5-1)

72. Tiequan Zhang (2-4)

Featherweight (51 Fighters Currently Under Contract)

Another deep division means a long list of guys who could be targets for cuts, including a few former contenders.

73. Maximo Blanco (0-1)

74. Rodrigo Damm (1-1)

75. Leonard Garcia (2-6)

76. Hatsu Hioki (2-2)

77. Mizuto Hirota (0-0)

78. Justin Lawrence (1-1)

79. Cody McKenzie (2-3)

80. Yaotzin Meza (0-1)

81. Cole Miller (6-5)

82. Bart Palaszewski (1-2)

83. Nam Phan (2-4)

84. Daniel Pineda (2-2)

85. Godofredo Pepey (1-1)

86. Sam Sicilia (1-1)

87. Jeremy Stephens (7-8)

88. Jason Young (1-3)

Bantamweight (37 Fighters Currently Under Contract)

It may seem strange to mention Urijah Faber and cut in the same sentence but according to Dana White the former title contender needs a good performance at UFC 157 or he might be out. The division is still growing but there are a few guys who have losses in their last contests.

89. John Albert (1-3)

90. Chico Camus (1-1)

91. Reuben Duran (1-2)

92. Urijah Faber (2-2)

93. Azamat Gashimov (0-1)

94. Dustin Pague (1-3)

95. George Roop (2-5)

96. Issei Tamura (1-1)

97. Marcus Vinicius (1-1)

98. Yorifumi “KID” Yamamoto (0-3)

Flyweight (12 Fighters Currently Under Contract)

The flyweight division is still developing and needs as many fighters as it can gets, but there are two former top contenders on noticeable slides.

99. Jussier Formiga (0-1)

100. Ian McCall (0-2-1)

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