Olympic Medalist & Top Contender Highlight Latest UFC Roster Cuts

A number of fighters have been removed from the UFC roster following UFC 308.

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The latest round of UFC roster cuts saw a number of notable names exit the promotion following UFC 308.

Seven Fighters Removed From UFC Roster

Combat sports fans are well aware that there’s little margin for error when a fighter finally makes it to the UFC, especially after UFC CEO Dana White spent much of the summer handing out contracts to rising prospects every week on Dana White’s Contender Series.

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Following an action-packed UFC 308 card that took place in Abu Dhabi, UAE last Saturday, the UFC Roster Watch account reports that Olympic Bronze Medalist Robelis Despaigne and several other fighters have been removed from the UFC roster.

May 11, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Waldo Cortes Acosta (red gloves) fights Robelis Despaigne (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Enterprise Center. / Jeff Le-Imagn Images

Despaigne began his MMA career with four-straight first-round knockouts to catch the attention of the UFC, but after stopping Josh Parisian in just 18 seconds he suffered his first loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta in his next outing before Austen Lane defeated him by unanimous decision at UFC
Fight Night: Pereira vs. Hernandez on October 19.

The Pereira vs. Hernandez fight card ended up being the UFC swan song for several fighters, as Jessica Penne, Tamires Vidal, Daniel Pineda, and top-ranked flyweight contender Matheus Nicolau have also all been removed from the roster after suffering losses at that event.

Dec 3, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Matheus Nicolau (red gloves) fights Matt Schnell (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Amway Center. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The other three cuts reported by UFC Roster Watch include Jessie Butler (0-2 UFC) and a pair of DWCS veterans in Vinicius Salvador (0-3 UFC) and Charalampos Grigoriou (0-2 UFC).

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The removal of Despaigne from the UFC roster will certainly come as a surprise to some fans given how much hype there was around him when he joined the promotion. The other two most notable cuts are former The Ultimate Fighter competitor and longtime UFC veteran Penne as well as Nicolau, who is currently sitting at #10 in the UFC flyweight rankings.  

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