Three More Fighters Cut From UFC Roster
In an ongoing effort by the UFC to trim their contract roster, the organization has recently dispensed of lightweight Din Thomas, and welterweights Kuniyoshi Hironaka and Tommy Speer, according to the latest print edition of The Wrestling Observer.
Din Thomas, a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback, has put up back-to-back losses against Kenny Florian and Josh Neer, and will now look to fight elsewhere at 145lbs as planned. Thomas had recently expressed interest in fighting at featherweight in the WEC, but his wishes have not been granted, as he has reportedly been let go by Zuffa completely.
Tommy Speer gets the axe following his highlight reel knockout loss to Anthony Johnson at UFC Fight Night 13. Prior to that, Speer was the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter 6, losing to now-lightweight, Mac Danzig, at the finale of the show.
Kuniyoshi Hironaka has only had one win since competing in the UFC, which was over Forrest Petz last year at UFC Fight Night 9. Hironaka’s first fight inside the octagon was a decision loss to Jon Fitch, and his last two performances both resulted in TKO’s losses, at the hands of Thiago Alves and most recently Jonathan Goulet.
Additional fighters confirmed to have been released from their UFC contracts include Travis Lutter, Jake O’Brien, Kalib Starnes, Joe Doerksen, David Heath, Charles McCarthy, and John Halverson as well as many recent “Ultimate Fighter” cast members.
Tags: Din Thomas, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, tommy speer
Loading ...
These are all decent fighters, I have never been a fan of Tommy Speer, he should go back to the farm …… Hironaka and Goulet had a really good fight in Montreal, a little surprised about that release and Din Thomas, whatever , he’ll never amount to a champion but i’m surprised they cut a loyal UFC veteran like Thomas.
UFC is really cutting !!!!!!No non-sense, your not winning BYE BYE !!!
To me Speer didn’t have the experience to cut it in the UFC yet and I think cutting him makes sense. He can get more experience and potentially return to the promotion. Experience is what he needs and the UFC is just not the best place for a young fighter to get experience.
it sucks to see some people leave, but the UFC definately needed to do this…They have waaaaay too many fighters that need more experience before getting spots on PPVs. I noticed it getting a little watered down when the we went from having 1-2 title fights every PPV to having the occasional No-Title/Weak Main Event and the undercards were made up of 80% TUF cast.
Sorry to those who lose their spot with the biggest show in town, but the fight fans are really the winners with this house cleaning.
When will they cut bisping!?! hopefully after he gets demolished by a fresh out the clink leben. that would be the greatest thing ever if rogan tells him after the fight that he’s fired.
yea…never going to happen…as much as people hate bisping…he will never be cut… not by dana…thats one of his golden boys…sad to say… I would be surprised, honestly, if leban beats bisping….Im not really sold on either fighter yet….neither have really defeated a HUGE opponent…hell..leban lost to Kalib Starnes!! Bisping looked good in his debut last ppv, but yea…it was against a weak opponent.. but he looked quick regardless and will have decent strength in that class….but yet, he has no class…..i dont like the guy…but i think he is better than leban…but will be rooting for leban to win….
So what happens in August if Brock Lesnar loses to Harmon?? Will he cut Brock then?!? All that hype and 2 losses (especially if its quick) – that will be interesting… personally, I think Lesnar will kill him, but just throwing a what if.. out there…
why would they cut bisping hes one of the top guys in the ufc so i wish all u ****es who dont like him just shut ur trap an admit that ur wrong about him, hes a good fighter with a good record why not cut dan henderson hes lost two straight fights….
and i dont mean they should cut him im just saying that cos thats how stupid people sound when they bad mouth the count
People bad mouth the count because he has no class….i agree, he shouldnt be cut… but what he displayed in win/loss to Hammill was embarassing…for him….i mean seriously.. lets mock a deaf guy…you are big and bad Bisping!!
I dont disagree with cutting Dan Henderson… he WAS a stud…but for pride…things are different here and maybe he would be dominate in a diff league…there has been rumors of alot of the pride guys who were dopers…. and it seems to be true…cro cop, hendo, wanderli, etc… though rampage and anderson silva are exceptions.. just makes you wonder how those other guys were so dominate and havent amounted to much in the ufc (but give wanderli a pass since he only fought once, and it was Liddell!!)
I’m so sick of people calling Rampage and Anderson Silva “Pride” fighters just because they fought for the pride name. Rampage had more fights outside of pride than he had in pride when the UFC aquired him. It’s like saying Brad Imes is a UFC fighter, or Josh Haynes is a UFC fighter. Neither of them were top competitors in the UFC. Rampage is famous for a power bomb in pride and two really bad KO losses to Wanderlei. And as for Anderson Silva he especially was NOT a major pride fighter to classify him as such. I can almost agree with an argument made to make Rampage out to be a pride guy, but deffinatley not Silva.
Thats just my ranting.
Well man, try not to get sick of it because its true…..rampage has 34 fights….17 came from pride, and if my math is right…thats half… and thats where he became well known….
As for Silva, he only had 5-6 fights in pride.. so yea, not the most for an organization.. but again…thats where he is known… pride made his name…for most fans….sure there are fans that didnt know he fought for places like cage rage, rumble on the rock, and mecca (and others).. he was a no name to MOST fans, not the hardcore fans…but he became well known once he hit pride, then obviously he blew up once he hit the UFC….so that is why those 2 are classified Pride guys…and always will be…
yo if the ufc keeps cutting ppl like this then they are going to lose so many ppl and no one will want to even fight in the UFC cause of the possibility to be cut so easily
jason ur talking like hammill is some mongie bum from the street, the count won a split decision in front of his home fans were probley most his family an freinds was there so he celebrated wat did u want him to do just stand there an go no thats not fair hes deaf he shoulda won that close call bull crap any body else woulda done the same its only because hes english that most people have a problem with him beating u americans ona close call.
Bisping made his mark at 205 – now he needs to at 185. That gives him an edge for the UFC. He’s marketable for the British fans (mainly). But I think he is a gent. He’s always very well spoken until someone else starts with the smack talk.
He wont be cut because it gives the UFC an option to really push out into the UK. And he keeps winning (1 close loss – big deal), so there should be no reason that he is cut.
No johnboy, im not talking like Hamill is some mongie…and no i am also not saying bisping shouldve said, well since you are deaf you should win….i mean really?? you actually read what i wrote and thought i meant that?? sad..
My comments were because of how he acted in the post interview….I was trying to find the video before I posted on here, but couldnt find it but what I remembered was how he was showing NO CLASS to Hamill….and mocking him because he won…. basically talking crap to him while talking to Rogan….just showed absolutely no class…. sure he was in his home town… but does that give him the right to be a prick? Hell…Tito showed more class towards Ken Shamrock after he beat him (for the 3rd time) and there was alot of tension between them prior to the fight….
So all I am saying is that Bisping showed 0 class in his win over Hamill….and if you think im wrong, watch a video of the end….listen to what he says….if I find that video, I can quote exactly what he says…
KYLE,
The UFC is cutting people so only the BEST in the world are in the UFC. The way I see it now, the UFC has the vast majority of top talent in the world. Not all the top guys but the most compared to other promotions. If fighters want to be the best or prove they’re the best, the UFC is the place to be. Common sense in the world of MMA. Fighters are not turned away by being cut. Those cut need to work harder and those not in the UFC have just had a new position of employment opened up for them. Fighters not wanting to come to the UFC over others being cut do not want it bad enough or deserve it. You my friend are wrong. I see what you were trying to say but you are not right at all.
how could you cut tommy speer with that fag and din they didnt give him enough time one piece of **** fight that only lasted about 30 seconds, thats a true test of skills such bull**** he only got better from when he got knocked he thought he had hands because he knocked out george he never had good hands and that made him reailize that him and din should have fought to stay way to soon to cut tommy he could have been a good 170
kind of surprised they let thomas and speer go. thomas was doing well and speer was mini-hughes.