The Ultimate Fighting Championship is separating itself from the highlights of longtime heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos.
MMAjunkie.com was the first to report the release of Overeem, while dos Santos initially publicized his departure on social media. Since then, several establishments have confirmed the cuts. According to an ESPN report, Overeem had two fights left on his UFC contract, while Cigano had five.
Overeem recently competed at UFC Fight Night 184 on February 6, when he had a two-game winning streak in the technical knockout defeat in the second round against Alexander Volkov. A former Strikeforce, K-1 and Dream champion, Overeem made his debut in the Octagon with a stop in the first round of Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 and started to compile a 12-8 mark in the Las Vegas-based promotion. “The Demolition Man” fought for heavyweight gold at UFC 203, where he suffered a first round knockout loss to Stipe Miocic in September 2016.
The 40-year-old Dutchman has a 47-19 mark in his undisputed career and has won notable victories over names like Fabricio Werdum (twice), Mark Hunt (twice), dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski, Roy Nelson, Frank Mir , Lesnar, Vitor Belfort (twice) and Sergei Kharitonov. MMAFighting.com reports that Bellator is not interested in signing Overeem at the moment, despite the fighter’s previous relationship with President Scott Coker on Strikeforce.
Dos Santos leaves the promotion following a sequence of four consecutive defeats. All four defeats – against Ciryl Gane, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou – were by knockout or technical knockout. According to the ESPN report, the Brazilian was offered a short-term fight against Marcin Tybura at UFC 260 on March 29, and after he refused for lack of time to prepare, he was released from the contract.
“Thanks [UFC] for a great 12 years! ”Dos Santos wrote on Instagram. “I fought on MMA’s Murderer’s Row to get the chance for the belt. Holding it and defending it was one of the great honors of my life. Thanks to all the opponents, all the fans and all the critics. I’m going to spend some time on the drawing board, but I’m excited to move on. “
“Cigano” started its promotional management with nine consecutive victories. He notably helped usher in the Fox era when he knocked out Cain Velasquez in 64 seconds to claim the heavyweight title at UFC on Fox 1 in November 2011. He would defend the belt again against Frank Mir before resigning him in a rematch with Velasquez at UFC 155. The Brazilian competed for the belt two more times, falling to Velasquez again at UFC 166 and to Miocic at UFC 211.
Currently 37, dos Santos has a 21-9 career mark and has surpassed names like Derrick Lewis, Ben Rothwell, Miocic, Hunt, Shane Carwin, Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga, Mirko Filipovic and Werdum throughout his professional management.