The UFC continues to part ways with fighters and trim its roster.
On Tuesday, the Twitter account UFC Roster Watch which tracks the UFC roster and who has been added and removed – revealed four fighters have been let go. According to the account, Rafael Alves, Augusto Sakai, Leonardo Santos, and Mana Martinez have all been removed from the promotion’s active roster.
It should be noted that being removed from the UFC roster does not mean a fighter was released. Instead, it could also mean the fighter fought out their UFC deal and was not re-signed.
Lightweight: Rafael Alves (20-12 MMA)
❌ Fighter removed: Rafael Alves
— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch) March 28, 2023
Rafael Alves went 1-3 in the UFC but always put on exciting fights inside of the Octagon. However, after losing two in a row, he has been removed from the active roster. The Brazilian earned his way into the UFC with a submission win on the Contender Series but then lost to Damir Imsagulov in his official debut. Alves then scored a first-round submission win over Marc Diakese in his sophomore appearance. However, after back-to-back losses to Drew Dober by TKO and Nurullo Aliev by majority decision, he is no longer listed as a UFC Fighter.
Heavyweight: Augusto Sakai (16-5-1 MMA)
❌ Fighter removed: Augusto Sakai
— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch) March 23, 2023
Augusto Sakai departs the UFC following a win over Don’Tale Mayes back in February. Prior to that victory, the former ranked heavyweight was on a four-fight losing skid that saw him drop fights to Serghei Spivac, Tai Tuivasa, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Alistair Overeem – all by way of knockout. In his UFC career, Sakai went 5-4 while holding notable wins over Marcin Tybura, Andrei Arlovski, and Blagoy Ivanov.
Lightweight: Leonardo Santos (18-6-1 MMA)
❌ Fighter removed: Leonardo Santos
— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch) March 27, 2023
Leonardo Santos ended his UFC tenure on a three-fight losing skid and last fought back at UFC 278 in August when he dropped a decision to Jared Gordon. Prior to that, he suffered a submission loss to Clay Guida after being knocked out by Grant Dawson with one second left in the fight. Santos was 7-3-1 inside the Octagon and has notable wins over Kevin Lee, Anthony Rocco Martin, and Thiago Santos on TUF.
Bantamweight: Mana Martinez (10-4)
❌ Fighter removed: Mana Martinez
— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch) March 28, 2023
Mana Martinez went 2-2 with the Las Vegas based promotion, alternating wins and losses with his last fight coming back at UFC 285 where he lost a majority decision to Cameron Saaiman. Prior to that, Martinez had picked up a split decision win over Brandon Davis, this after losing a decision to Ronnie Lawrence. In his debut, he beat Guido Cannetti by split decision.
Are you surprised by any of these fighters being removed from the UFC roster?
