Five Fighters On Hot Seat After UFC Fight Night 108
Five Fighters On Hot Seat After UFC Fight Night 108
Five fighters whose jobs could be in jeopardy after UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville.
UFC Fight Night 108 took place this past Saturday (April 22nd 2017) in Nashville, Tennessee and saw Cub Swanson take home a unanimous decision victory over Artem Lobov in the main event. While some fighters put on memorable performances, others came up short and are now in danger of keeping their spot on the UFC roster. Here are five fighters on the preverbal “Hot Seat” post-UFC Fight Night 108.
Ellenberger suffered his fourth loss in his last five fights, with three of those setbacks coming by way of knockout. The 32-year-old had to beg Dana White to give him another chance in the UFC three-fights ago prior to his win over Matt Brown and it’s entirely possible that good will from the Las Vegas based promotion has run out. While the Kings MMA product has fought some of the toughest welterweights in the division during that span (Stephen Thompson, Matt Brown and Jorge Masvidal) it doesn’t get past the fact he’s won just twice since 2014. Should Ellenberger earn his pink slip, it’s possible Bellator takes a look at him for their 170-pound division.
Ortiz has lost three of his last four fights and subsequently suffered his first stoppage loss in his 23-fight career. The 28-year-old has been on the UFC roster since 2013 and holds notable wins over flyweight contenders Ray Borg and Justin Scoggins. But what doesn’t help his case is the fact he competes flyweight division, which seems like less of a priority for the UFC as they let top fighters Kyoji Horiguchi and Ali Bagautinov sign recently with other promotions. Since 2014 his only two victories are over Willie Gates and Zach Makovsky, both of whom are no longer on the UFC roster. Should he become a free-agent, expect the Franklin, Tennessee native to get scooped up by one of the bigger promotions.
Penne is coming off a controversial decision loss to Taylor this past Saturday which saw 10 of 15 media members score the fight for the TUF 20 competitor via MMADecisions. But the reality is Penne’s UFC record is now at 1-3, with two of those losses coming by way of knockout. Her last win was against Randa Markos at the TUF 20 Finale in December 2014. It’s possible the 34-year-old sticks around because the promotion seems hesitant to release fighters from the strawweight division. However at the same time we could see her demoted to Invicta FC which is a promotion that seems to be snagging up a number of UFC castoffs.
Despite the UFC’s 205-pound class being one of the weakest in the promotion, de Lima could be the latest victim of the next round of UFC cuts after his setback this past Saturday. Unlike other fighters on this list, the Brazilian has a modest 4-3 record in the UFC, but missing weight prior to this matchup is undoubtedly frowned upon from the Las Vegas based promotion. With all three of his octagon losses coming by way of stoppage, it’s entirely possible that was the last time we see the 31-year-old in the UFC.
Proctor returned to the octagon for the first time since December 2015 and came up short suffering his third stoppage loss in his last four fights. The 31-year-old competed on Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter and was kept on the roster after defeating Jeremy Larsen via TKO at the TUF 15 Finale in 2012. Since that win, Proctor has only competed seven times since as he missed all of 2013 and 2016 due to injury. All of his UFC victories including Larsen, Cristiano Marcello, Justin Salas and Justin Edwards are no longer members of the UFC roster.
Agree or disagree with this list? Who would you add on here? Hit us up on Twitter @FloCombat.
Jake Ellenberger - (lost to Mike Perry via TKO (Elbows) at 1:05, RD. 2)
Ellenberger suffered his fourth loss in his last five fights, with three of those setbacks coming by way of knockout. The 32-year-old had to beg Dana White to give him another chance in the UFC three-fights ago prior to his win over Matt Brown and it’s entirely possible that good will from the Las Vegas based promotion has run out. While the Kings MMA product has fought some of the toughest welterweights in the division during that span (Stephen Thompson, Matt Brown and Jorge Masvidal) it doesn’t get past the fact he’s won just twice since 2014. Should Ellenberger earn his pink slip, it’s possible Bellator takes a look at him for their 170-pound division.
Dustin Ortiz – (lost to Brandon Moreno via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 4:06, RD. 2)
Ortiz has lost three of his last four fights and subsequently suffered his first stoppage loss in his 23-fight career. The 28-year-old has been on the UFC roster since 2013 and holds notable wins over flyweight contenders Ray Borg and Justin Scoggins. But what doesn’t help his case is the fact he competes flyweight division, which seems like less of a priority for the UFC as they let top fighters Kyoji Horiguchi and Ali Bagautinov sign recently with other promotions. Since 2014 his only two victories are over Willie Gates and Zach Makovsky, both of whom are no longer on the UFC roster. Should he become a free-agent, expect the Franklin, Tennessee native to get scooped up by one of the bigger promotions.
Jessica Penne – (lost to Danielle Taylor via Unanimous Decision)
Penne is coming off a controversial decision loss to Taylor this past Saturday which saw 10 of 15 media members score the fight for the TUF 20 competitor via MMADecisions. But the reality is Penne’s UFC record is now at 1-3, with two of those losses coming by way of knockout. Her last win was against Randa Markos at the TUF 20 Finale in December 2014. It’s possible the 34-year-old sticks around because the promotion seems hesitant to release fighters from the strawweight division. However at the same time we could see her demoted to Invicta FC which is a promotion that seems to be snagging up a number of UFC castoffs.
Marcos Rogério de Lima - (lost to Ovince St. Preux via Submission (Von Flue Choke) at 2:11, RD. 2)
Despite the UFC’s 205-pound class being one of the weakest in the promotion, de Lima could be the latest victim of the next round of UFC cuts after his setback this past Saturday. Unlike other fighters on this list, the Brazilian has a modest 4-3 record in the UFC, but missing weight prior to this matchup is undoubtedly frowned upon from the Las Vegas based promotion. With all three of his octagon losses coming by way of stoppage, it’s entirely possible that was the last time we see the 31-year-old in the UFC.
Joe Proctor - (lost to Bryan Barberena via TKO (Knees and Punches) at 3:30, RD. 1)
Proctor returned to the octagon for the first time since December 2015 and came up short suffering his third stoppage loss in his last four fights. The 31-year-old competed on Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter and was kept on the roster after defeating Jeremy Larsen via TKO at the TUF 15 Finale in 2012. Since that win, Proctor has only competed seven times since as he missed all of 2013 and 2016 due to injury. All of his UFC victories including Larsen, Cristiano Marcello, Justin Salas and Justin Edwards are no longer members of the UFC roster.
Agree or disagree with this list? Who would you add on here? Hit us up on Twitter @FloCombat.