Three UFC Fighters Get “Former” Added To That Title
Mike Ciesnolevicz
As many of you know the UFC has a tendency to trim fighters that don’t do well early in their UFC career from their roster. That trend has continued this week as the UFC has cut three more fighters, Mike Ciesnolevicz, Tim Boetsch, and Frank Lester.
Ciesnolevicz was released following his first round TKO loss to Thomas Drwal on Saturday night, after going 1-1 in his short stint in the UFC. Ciesnolevicz debuted in the UFC stepping in on short notice and moving up a weight class to defeat fellow debutant Neil Grove via heel hook at UFC 96. He stepped in on short notice again Saturday night, this time at Light heavyweight (a weight class he failed to meet the requirements for) and was defeated by Drwal. According to MMAWeekly stepping up twice on short notice and going 1-1 wasn’t enough to keep him employed.
Tim Boetsch has also had a history of stepping in on short notice for the UFC earning an impressive victory in his debut against David Heath, but only managed a cumulative 2-2 record in the UFC. His last defeat was an uninspiring loss to Jason Brilz at UFC 96, which prompted the UFC to release him. It is rumored that he may find his way to Strikeforce for his next fight.
In the case of Frank Lester, it appears that gutsy performances on “The Ultimate Fighter”, and becoming the only fighter brought back into the show to pick up a win were not enough to keep him around. CagePotato is reporting that the UFC released Lester after going 2-2 during his stint on TUF (both losses coming to eventual winner, James Wilks), and suffering a loss to fellow TUF combatant Nick Osipczak at the TUF 9 Finale. Lester leaves the promotion with a 3-3 professional record.
Tags: Frank Lester, Mike Ciesnolevicz, tim boetsch
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I like tim boetsch and i hope he does well. His game isn’t “strong” enough to compete @ 205 though.
I was surprised that lester even fought on the finale card. He’s a tough dude but needs to hella work on his overall game.
I guess we won’t be seeing Ciesnolevicz vs. Soszynski anytime soon
Lester has mad heart, but his “talent” level isn’t quite there yet…
Tim is kinda suprising but perhaps it was mutual, I do believe that he will return to the UFC at some point he is a short notice specialist
Ciesnolevicz well ok how do you pronounce that? he isn’t that good imo but hey he fought in the “big show” so good on him
I realy think it was that boring loss to Brilz where alot of people thought he was gonna win that ultimately led to his departure.
I’m kind of surprised that a fighter who takes two fights in short notice and goes 1-1 with both of them gets cut after just the one loss.
He hopes to fight his way back into the UFC, we’ll see.
yeah i agree. We’ve all had the conversation on “who deserves” to be cut instead of others but hey, that’s how the ufc works sometimes and like FR said, it was probably mutual. Maybe because tim is a stand up fighter, his chances of coming back are greater than others who’ve been recently cut.
Not making your natural weight doesn’t get you in the good graces of UFC brass.
does anybody which tv station ufc will be screened on now in the uk?
dang, hopefully we’ll see boestch again..
fran lester 3-3, 2-3 surely, it is fair enough that he was cut though, i couldnt really see him beating anyone in ufc, to be honest he really isnt very good at all, but at the same time i do really respect the guy for having as much heart as he does.
For Frank Lester, his big heart kept his UFC dreams alive until the finale, if he had won that fight in the TUF finale,perhaps they would have game him another shot, so him losing was problably his final chance. The guy has guts and a big heart, he’s still young and has a bright future if he continues to improve.
I was surprised about Tim Boetsch because the guy is not all bad, his debut was sick to watch, but he has dropped a few fights. I hope the guy can turn things around and improve enough to come back some day.
I’m a little suprised to see Botsch but more than anyone else. I’m not knocking Chuck as he is still one of my fav fighters, but I figure if he is going to come back and fight someone, it should be on the level of Botsch.
I have a question for everyone:
What should be the standards for a fighter getting cut?
Let ne re-phrase:
What Should be the criteria for a fighter to get the cut?
MK4, maybe it isn’t so much an issue of what a fighter needs to do to get cut, but rather, what a fighter needs to do in order to stay with the promotion.
Dana White has a list of things he likes in his fighters, which I culled from an assortment of interviews and articles I’ve read by him and about him in the last 6-7 years. This list includes, but is not limited to, a marketable look, a skill-set that produces exciting fights, selfless attitude, sick work ethic, pushover management and/or representation, personal charisma to help sell tickets and boost PPV buy rates, and a willingness to “drink the UFC Kool-Aid”.
And then there is the matter of pure talent, and how much of it a particular fighter has.
In addition to that, the fighter has to almost always be ready to take a fight on short-notice, not **** about bad decisions, play promotional politics as dictated by White, and THEN has to go out and win fights, and win in exciting fashion.
Thats a tall order for almost anyone, and I’m honestly surprised at the number of men who pull it off. Sometimes a fighter can get away with only meeting a few criteria on the list, like say BJ Penn, but for the most part everyone tows the company line to one extent or another.
I guess Mike C, Boetsch, and Lester just didn’t have enough pieces of the Dana White/UFC puzzle to keep their jobs at this time. Some or all of these guys may be back at some time or another. If I were a betting man, I would expect to see Boetsch back first, and then Mike C.
Lester, bless his huge heart, needs a LOT of work before he’s ready to step back in the cage at the UFC level.
I wish all 3 the best of luck in their careers, and strongly urge Lester to get with a quality camp if he’s serious about professional fighting.
I don’t feel like adressing everything in this post at this time, or possibly ever, but I wanted to point out that Lester trains at Team Quest with Dan Henderson, which I would consider a quality camp.
i thought they would give lester more chances before cutting him already
stop making sense Justin
ah’right cool, i thought it ment all of tuf an the finale and anything that has to do with ufc, i didnt realise it ment his actual mma record, i knew that the tuf fights dont count exept for semifinal onward.
So, I accidentally deleted a comment, while browsing on my phone, which is why FR and timosy’s two comments here look out of place look out of place. Basically they are referring to me clearing up that the fights on TUF do not count for or against a fighter’s record. Only their fight on the finale event, if they make it that far. Sorry about that.