UFC RELEASES SEVERAL FLYWEIGHTS INCLUDING DUSTIN ORTIZ
Heading into 2019, we all figured there was a good chance the UFC flyweight division was on its final legs. However, when Henry Cejudo knocked out TJ Dillashaw at the first round of their bout at UFC Fight Night 143, we thought there was an opportunity the branch could be saved, particularly since the UFC declared a couple of other fights at 125lbs for different events.
It looks like that may not be the case, as the promotion has allegedly released several other flyweights.
According to Cejudo, who talked to the media last weekend at UFC Fight Night 144, the UFC has released top-ranked flyweights Dustin Ortiz and Matheus Nicolau. Additionally, John Moraga was removed from the UFC’s official positions, indicating he also has been released. The UFC has not yet commented on if these fighters have indeed officially been released, but normally it is up to the fighters to inform the fans and media when that happens. Virtually anytime somebody was removed from the rankings for unknown reasons, though, it is usually because the UFC released them.
Even though the UFC flyweight division is clearly on its way out, the decision to cut an excellent fighter like Ortiz is utterly shocking, and dare I say, dumb. Ortiz is coming from a competitive unanimous decision loss to Joseph Benavidez at UFC Fight Night 143 which was one of the better fights on that card. There’s a chance Benavidez gets another crack at Cejudo’s belt, meaning that the UFC simply cut Ortiz coming off of a title eliminator. And before the Benavidez struggle, Ortiz had won three straight fights, such as a mind kick knockout over the aforementioned Nicolau, a determination win over Alexandre Pantoja — a talented flyweight who it appears has been spared from the cuts so much — and also a 15-second KO over Hector Sandoval that was the fastest knockout in UFC flyweight history. If anything, the UFC should have advised Ortiz to move around bantamweight, which Alex Perez seemingly will do (along with fighters such as Said Nurmagomedov). Releasing such a talented and improved fighter like Ortiz outright just seems silly.
As for Nicolau, he’d won all three of his fights in the Octagon before dropping to Ortiz, and although he didn’t seem to be a title contender, he provided valuable thickness at 125lbs. He also holds a notable win over Moraga, who it seems has also got the boot. That is just another cut that shocks me. Moraga was really among the initial flyweights the UFC signed back in 2012, and although he had an up-and-down UFC profession, he was still considered to be a solid gatekeeper and the perfect test for up-and-comers to take on. In his last fight, he was knocked out by Deiveson Figueiredo, who appears to be one of the few flyweights the UFC nevertheless has to the roster. There is no reason Moraga couldn’t have stuck around and continued to act in a gatekeeper role. It simply seems overly harsh to cut a man who had been among the few fighters with finishing potential in a branch that normally sees fights go the distance.
Now, it’s very bizarre what the UFC is performing together with the flyweights. If you ask UFC president Dana White, he states the advertising hasn’t made a decision on the branch, but it seems like every day we are seeing a flyweight get cut, and then another day we see a flyweight battle booked. It would be fine if the UFC will create its own mind and either cut all of the flyweights or maintain a full branch, since right now the fighters have no clue what kind of job security they have going ahead, and that is not fair to anybody.
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