UFC Cuts Clementi, Fioravanti, and Three Others
Rich Clementi
The UFC is continuing to shrink their roster, cutting a hand full of fighters in recent days, according to Five Ounces of Pain, including Rich Clementi, Luigi Fioravanti, Derek Downey, Christian Wellisch, and Eddie Sanchez. This move not only downsizes the UFC’s massive roster, but will also put the fear of being cut on the minds of many struggling UFC fighters.
Luigi Fioravanti is an American Top Team member that has fought to a .500 record by going 2-2 in his last four fights. He was defeated by 170-pound up and comer Anthony Johnson via first round TKO at UFC Fight Night 17 last Saturday. Although this didn’t appear to be a terrible loss, it does appear to be the one that cost Luigi his Job.
The magic number to be worried about being released seems to be two-straight as Clementi, Wellisch, and Sanchez all had two-straight losses.
Rich Clementi is not far off from a 3 fight win streak that had him starting to climb the lightweight rankings. That streak came to a crashing halt as he then lost his next two bouts. Fresh off of losses to Gray Maynard and Gleison Tibau he is now on the outside looking in.
Christian Wellisch’s string of bad luck started with a loss to Shane Carwin and continued against Jake O’Brien while Eddie Sanchez suffered losses to Justin McCully and Antoni Hardonk.
Downey lost his UFC debut at UFN 17 last weekend against fellow newcomer Nick Catone and will not get another chance to prove to the UFC brass that he is worth keeping.
The UFC is known for having the best fighters in the world and one way to make sure they live up to this reputation is to drop fighters that may be struggling or have not shown signs of being a true contender. Luigi Fioravanti and Rich Clementi have both shown signs of being at least a mid-tier fighter, but the UFC didn’t agree. Other fighters that could be on the way out in the future could be Pete Sell (lost 4 out of last 5), Kendall Grove (lost 2 out of last 3), and Jorge Rivera (lost 5 out of last 9).
Tags: Christian Wellisch, Derek Downey, Eddie Sanchez, Luigi Fioravanti, Rich Clementi
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No surpises here. I never even seen Downey fight so I can’t form an opinion of him. The other guys needed to go anyway.
Antoni Hardonk for president.
I guess stevenson will get cut as hes lost his last 2 fights…oh no wait hes headlining again!
Stevenson lost to BJ Penn, beat Gleison Tibau, then lost to Kenny Florian. So he hasn’t lost his last two fights, and the two fights he did lose were for the belt, and then number one contender. One of the qualifications seems to be to show signs of being a contender, Stevenson has done that.
Thats right Justin, besides Stevenson won the Ultimate Fighter 2. They never cut those guys, unless your out of shape Travis Lutter.
Damn… I really enjoyed watching Clementi fight.
They should cut Melvin.
I think clementi will be back just under a renegotiated contract, he’s been an entertaining fighter but after seeing his payout for the last fight I am not surprised, granted that last contract was when he was on a long win streak but it’s part of the game.
Fiorivanti is the prime example of a guy whose stuck in-between being a good fighter and a great fighter. He wins the fights he should win but he cannot get over the hump against tougher competition. I hope he is able to come back b/c I’ve followed him for a long time(before he was UFC). So Semper Fi and all the other fighters to me are pretty obvious cuts.
i can understand wellich and sanchez, but fioivanti always puts his all into a fight and is a good fighter
clementi i dont really like but early last year when ufc had fighters gettin hurt and needing replacements left and right he fought like 3 out of the 5 upcoming ppvs, thought ufc would show him same commitment he did to them.. kinda sad, hope that they dont curse themselves by gettin rid of more of the best
I’m kind of surprised they cut clementi. He’s a good fighter who hasn’t been on top of his game. What about Mac Danzig? Josh Burkman? Melvin Guillard? Kendall Grove should have been cut long time ago if you ask me. If i’m not mistakened, Jason Mcdonald has lost 3 of his last 4 and i think he lost 2 or 3 in a row. Well, i just think the clementi cut was premature.
The UFC should keep Clementi.. He is a great gate keeper.. And no **** Jazz they keep the other hacks Mac Danzig.. Josh Burkman.. Melvin Guil.. and Kendall Grove… maybe its the ammount they pay the one’s they cut?
I dont get it either (Luigi and Clementi). Lets all mention some of the jobbers that continue to find themselves on PPVs, some have been mentioned:
Guillard, Danzig, Burkman, Emerson, Bonnar, Sell, Wiman, Kaplan…Mostly TUF fighters that keep the undercards warm with fodder for real up-and-commers.
Let’s not blow this out of proportion. The way I look at it is similar to basesballs minor league circuit. If a pitcher is getting hammered in the big leauges sometimes it’s beneficial to go down to the minors, regain some confidence and come back when he’s ready. A lot of these guys may need some easier competition to regain that confidence level. There was nothing in the story about a lifetime ban. Win some good fights and hopefully come back better than ever. Good luck to all five.
Hey Zac,
Excellent point, the notoriety that comes from TUF seems to add a fight or two to ones existence in the UFC. I would add Ed Herman to the list also, coming off two pretty good fights yet losses against Belcher and Maia with David Loiseau anxiously awaiting his comeback tilt with Ed.
Lame. Keep all those crappy ass TUF losers because they are reality stars… horse ****! Why the hell does Kendall Grove still have a job? Or Mac Danzig, the worst winner of the show, ever?
While your at it Dana, Chuck Liddell lost 2 in a row and 3 of his last 4! Time to cut him too based on your criteria!
Travis Lutter, who has already been cut is the worst winner, followed by Grove, followed by Danzig. Grove is likely fighting for his job in his next outing, I think that Danzig is still in his “guaranteed” contract right now, but Danzig has losses to two good fighters. I believe Danzig is capable of beating a lot other guys in the UFC LW division.
a lot of*
RLT,
Good point as seen with fighters who benefit from the break like Loiseau.
Danas criteria for Chuck is how many PPV’s is he selling, unfortunately money is the bottom line.
I consider this to be the first of many, I dont see any potential in the fighters that have been released, good luck however
Seriously dude, what is the criteria for cutting fighters? Lidell should have been cut along with the rest of them. I know, i know lidell is “marketable” because people enjoy watching him get ko’d all the time but based on the fighters who’ve been recenlty cut, he fits the bill. Maybe after shogun puts him to sleep dana will HAVE to cut him. Bonnar’s never getting cut because he’s “a big reason the ufc is where it is today”. Just don’t get it, but here’s my final list of dudes who should be cut before CLEMENTI
WIMAN
BURKMAN
GUILLARD
MCDONALD
GAMBURYAN
PARYSIAN
DANZIG
GROVE
REESE ANDY
BRANDON VERA
dude i can keep going
i hear they already got rid of reese and didnt resign burkmans contract.and wiman is 4-2 in the ufc only loseing to spencer fisher and jim miller he was on a four fight win streak in the ufc so i dont think he should be on your list and karo just beat the up and coming undefeated dong hyun kim so you gotta give him some credit he can rebound from loses really good.
I love how much some of you guys hate these fighters. It is really entertaining. Plus people are blowing the Clementi thing out of proportion, he will be back after a restructured deal it happens all the time. As for the other fighters?
Danzig- I need to see another fight before I judge him
Reese Andy- should be gone
Gamburyan- needs to quit being so stubborn and go the WEC at 145
Parysian- perennial underachiever who needs to be cut where hopefully he’d take it as a wake-up call.
Grove- I need to see another fight from him too
Vera- big question mark, who is the real Brandon Vera?
Gulliard- still unsure why he was asked to come back
McDonald- if he doesn’t win his next he’s gone
Wiman- is no where near developed at all
If it’s just on records then Liddell and Wandi(my all time fave) need to be worried along with Couture(whose only 4-4 since ‘04 should be worried. Let’s be honest this is a business first and names sell seats. Some of the guys listed have at least put on good fights and so have clementi and fiorivanti BUT when the pay outs exceed the benefit they will be cut and renegotiated with. Clementi I know for a fact has already done that once and Jake O’Brien was released and resigned twice I believe. So don’t flip out over this because chances are if he wants to be back he WILL be back.
Jazz that wasn’t directed at you but at everyone I just posted it in the wrong spot.
you guys talk about Chuck like you don’t know who he is or what he has done?? he got knocked out by the title holder “evans” and the number one contender “Rampage” he lost a decesion to jardine who is fighting Rampage for the number one spot! come on now cut Chuck Lidelle? you guys are on some hardcore troll sh!t.
haha read what I said… I said “ON RECORDS” he has lost 3 out of 4 end of argument…I don’t think he should be cut but let’s be real if cuts were JUST on records he and wandi would be gone.
McDonald has lost four out of his last seven(even though those guys were quality) and that does not bode well for anyone. Like I said he will be fighting for his job against quarry.
I think McDonald should stay. What about all the guys he beat??
I agree with your entire list, except for maybe MCDONALD because I am Canadian myself lol… And I think Andy does have some good showings.
But yeah, Brandon Vera is the perfect example of a UFC home grown guy who should have been cut ages ago. Clementi was going out and putting up wins plus having good fights to watch up until his snoozefest vs Maynard. Vera on the other hand…. I can’t remember the last time had a fight that was an crowd pleaser. And his few victories come over NOBODIES. Such biases in this business.
Yeah, a bunch of nobodies like frank Mir. Vera should have been cut right after that fight just for accepting a fight with the guy. Frank Mir, Who is that anyway.
have to disagree about Vera beating nobodies…Mir is only a former UFC Champ. Though he doesn’t look like the same fighter as he did in that match up, neither does Vera. Vera has not looked right since he lost to Sylvia though and losing 3 out 4 never looks good for any fighter.
Oh give me a break…. that was not the same Mir as now. That was an out of shape, just back from a motorcycle accident that nearly killed him, Frank Mir. He looked terrible gassing to everyone and basically fighting in slow motion those days. A Mir vs Vera match-up today would see Vera get destroyed in minutes.
I can’t remember the last time Vera had an exciting fighting. He just wants to stand there and trade. He should join K1. He has no will to win, no killer instinct, no ability to finish and hasn’t beaten anyone worth mentioning in years. I fall asleep when he fights.
All the hype around him last year was not worth it and the UFC regrets it now. He should be fighting on under-cards and the next piss poor performance we see from him should put an end to his career in the UFC.
Take your muay thai shorts and go take up kick-boxing… or add some versatility to your game, man.
Actually he is a great wrestler, earning a scholarship out of high school, and has great JJ as well. Frank Mir didn’t have time to gas against Vera, he was to busy eating knees, and the outcome of a rematch would end the same way, imo. Vera striking is light years ahead of Mir’s.
Didn’t think it was chris but thanks dude.
I know karo just “won”, but did he really? If you ask me, don hyun kim got played just like hamill got played in the bisping fight. Yeah i’m sure clementi will be back. it’s good that tthe ufc is downsizing, maybe we’ll see more finishes this year instead of decisions.
Why the #%$& did they cut Clementi? dudes tough
maybe because he is a t-bag and he just lost twice? i duno???
WTF is a t-bag?
a different type of douche? an enhanced douchebaggery? Or just nuts on the forehead?
I think sam stout should of been cut before clementi too because stout lost 2 in a row and one of the losses was against clementi
UFC keeps cutting guys. If jardine loses to Rampage they should cut him because he wins by decision then gets ko’d,wins by decision….gets ko’d.
Clementi is most likely a restructure, Fioravanti will have to win a few more then he will be back…
Chuck Liddell will not be cut for many business reasons, and yes money does factor in the equation. Most likely he would be asked to retire and accept his HOF trophy and then get a office job with ZUFFA, He wont be cut that in its self is retarded. Chuck lost to the now champion and the now number one contender, Jardine well that was a split decision so deal with that, cutting Chuck just isnt going to happen, and if persay Chuck beats Shogun well Mr. Rua will no longer be in the UFC (a lot like the deal ZUFFA came to CC with, he would be welcomed back after he regains himself)…
Wanderlei being cut would suck yet is highly unlikely especially if he attacks the MW division properly but we shall see..
Couture he is old and wont be fighting much longer anyways so seriously with the money he makes the company and the legend that he is plus being in the HOF he wont be cut either…
Negotiations are what make contracts and if the person under contract isnt performing up to “par” it is time to re~negotiate thats business, and its ok
actually jardine is a great fighter marvelknight4 the ufc would be dumb to let him go……there not gonna drop jardine because they pretty much want him to lose to rampage plus actually jardine isnt getting ko’d everytime hes only been ko’d twice in the ufc once by a houstan alexander who got lucky…jardin would kill houstan in a second imo…plus jardine has beat the #2 lhw in forrest and chuck liddell…A 6-3 RECORD IN THE UFC IS GREAT!!!!…there is no reason to get rid of jardine…
also chris l…to your fighters list i say this
Reese andy-imo should be able to stay in the ufc its not his fault his first two fights where against awesome competition……..thats kinda hard to come outta not competing in “ifl” competiton to all of a sudden facing big names in hammill and vera…he deserves a second chance…….he showed heart in the vera fight and he almost beat hammil he had him in some major trouble in the first round
Guillard- may get a bad rep from his personal life and drug life….but with that aside melvin is an awesome fighter who if he took his job a little more seriously and got cleaned up he could be a force and even a title challenger at 155…melvin has awesome skills and i believe he will start taking things seriously
macdonald- a warrior fights a tough opponent every fight, takes short notice fights and always fights to his full potential….no way should the ufc cut him he has a great record of guy hes faced in mma, that any other org…say affliction,strikeforce,dream,sengoku could use to build him up plus he is a great gatekeeper for the ufc to weed out the unworthy
wiman- are you dumb he loses one fight against miller…. one half of the greatest brothers in the sport……yes the millers are better than both the diaz brothers and the shamrocks….and you say he is no where near as developed as he should be…..err i think you should take a look at the streak he had going till he lost to miller in the a fight of the night fight…..Geraghty,omigawa,buchholz,tavares……and the tavares ko was spectacular…4-2 in the ufc wiman stays has the potential to be a great mma fighter one day..give him time there…..he hasnt blown his wad on the 155 lb division yet.
and to say couture should be worried is dumb because i dont care how old randy is or how many times he loses i will always enjoy seeing him fight because i still believe he has the skill to compete in the ufc and the way randy is i wouldnt be surprised at all if he could work his way back up the ranks someday soon
Gunslinger first off on Couture I said if it were on records… Do me a favor and read the posts above me before you get all pissy it.
Reese Andy- losing to quality competition is not an excuse ask O’Brien he lost to AA and Cain Velasquez and was cut. What business reason do you give me for keeping a guy who fights an unexciting style? Keep in mind I am saying this as a guy who wrestled in college. Like I said earlier this is business, and reese andy won’t put butts in the seats.
Guillard- I am just saying I do not know why he was asked to come back his drug life, No contest, and attitude is not something I respect. I respect him as a fighter and do not mind watching him but I just do not like him…plus I’m going off the list some one else put…
Wiman- for a guy whose been there awhile he has not progressed much, he is at risk because he makes more on average for being on an undercard than most. If he steps up his competition and wins he’ll be fine. Once again I don’t have anything against him I’m going off a previous list.
Like I said above McDonald is at risk if only because he’s lost 4 out of 7 and once again not my list.
i think reese andy has another fight coming.
i didn’t know the would cut this fighters like rich clementi since he’s a good lightweight , but will never be the champ.
randy has to have alot of skill to be one of the best in division being so old. so RANDY COUTURE IS AWESOME.
Brandon Vera i think could be cut since he has beaten alot of people in the UFC but none of them good at all. the only one that was worth anything, Kieth Jardine, and he lost.
hope NIGHTMARE wins UFC 95
Yeah Vera hasn’t looked the greatest lately, but he has some impressive finishes at hw, with the total destruction of Mir, and he is super talented. He has just been a but of a under achiever lately.
and somthing i’m wondering how do you get the little picture.
not too tricky, no post count required or silly shhh like that… Simply become a member of the FrenZy, do your profile and where it says change avatar… do so
anyone know a guy that would be a good matchup for Anderson Silva?
the one i have is Cung Lee. that guy is amazing. Has the Best kicks in all of MMA.
has all of this to his name:
2004 ISKA Light Heavyweight K-1 Super Fight Champion, Las Vegas, NV
(Super Fight) Cung Le vs. Brian Warren, Unanimous Decision
2003 ISKA Light Heavyweight K-1 Super Fight Champion, Las Vegas, NV
(Super Fight) Cung Le vs. Phil Petit, Unanimous Decision
2003 ISKA Light Heavyweight K-1 Super Fight Champion, Las Vegas, NV
(Super Fight Headliner) Cung Le vs. Scott Sheeley, 2nd TKO
2001 IKF Light Heavyweight World Champion San Jose, CA
(Main Event) Cung Le vs. Shonnie Carter 5-0 UD
2000 ISKA North American Light Heavyweight Champion San Jose, CA
(Main Event) Cung Le vs. Jeff Thornhill 3rd KO spinning back fist
2000 ISKA Light Heavyweight K-1 Super fight Champion Las Vegas, NV
(Super Fight) Cung Le vs. Laimon M. Keita 5-0 UD ESPN2
2000 ISKA Light Cruzerweight title defense Champion San Jose, Ca
(Main Event) Cung Le vs. Mike Altman 3rd KO double round house kick to the head right leg (Strike Force ESPN2)
1999 Art of War Light Heavyweight Champion (China vs. USA) Honolulu, HI
Cung Le vs. Nashun Gerile (Mongolian King) 3rd TKO Scissor Kick (CCTV)
1999 ISKA Light Heavyweight Sanshou Champion San Jose, CA
Cung Le vs. Scott Sheeley TKO (broken cheek bone) Throw (Strike Force ESPN2)
1998 ISKA Light Cruzer weight Champion San Jose, CA
Cung Le vs. Dan Garett KO left kick to the body
1998 Draka Main Event Champion Los Angeles, Ca. (Pay-per-view)
Cung Le vs. Minaro Tauro 1st round KO head kick right leg
1998 Draka Under card Champion Los Angeles, Ca ( Pay-per-view)
Cung Le vs. Gilk Isrelin 5-0 UD
1998 Shidokan Team USA Champion Chicago, IL
1st fight Cung Le vs. Ben Harris 2nd round KO spin hook kick to head
2nd fight Cung Le vs. Laimon M. Keita 5th round tap out (foot lock)
3rd fight Cung Le vs. Arne Soldwedel 7th round KO right hook to head
Pro Record: 15-0, 10 KOs
Too bad he’s in Strikeforce and probably will never be in the UFC to fight Silva.
My bad now is 22-0. just recently beat Frank Shamrock. by bracking his arm by a leg kick!
First off, no pic yet…?
Now I’am a fan of Cung Le’ and I understand the desire to see him face Anderson Silva, completely.. Is Cung (MMA) ready to face Silva yet? I personally dont think so, does he have great kicks YES but his ground game isnt that good honestly… He can get out of basic ground techniques, but for him to get away from Silva’s BJJ blackbelt skills is unlikely. Mind you I do know that Cung is working hard on his BJJ, and with his decent wrestling skills probably by the end of the year he will be rather confident on his BJJ skills.
Kick for kick, well if it was a K~1 bout then it wouldnt be exactly a MMA match would it.. You cannot deny Cung Le’s past, which if you have ever seen him live you are just in awww to put it simply..
I would like to see Anderson v Gegard Mousasi personally, that would be a great match, you have the standup and all the grappling you could desire in that match
Or perhaps coming soon to a TV near you is the possibility of Maia v Silva if they both continue to win, that fight would be intriging but hey, ya never know Bisbing or Hendo, Okami, or all hell could break loose and Leites could beat The Spider ya never know, hey perhaps another superfight GSP BRING IT KID!!!!!
Anderson v Gegard Mousasi is one of my dream fights I think the contrasts and what both offer would make it interesting. I would love to Cung Le and Silva but only in a year or two after Cung learns his BJJ better. Hope Silva doesn’t retire because that’d be a fun fight.
I too think Mousasi would be a great match up with Silva. I just hope that Silva comes out and puts on a clinic against Leites, rather than that crap he pulled against Cote.
oh all of my before comments turned to my new name!
see if my picture works
who is the guys that beat Anderson silva?
i remeber waatching one of the fights he lost.
they were standing then the guy jump to his leg for a ankle lock and made him tap. that the only one i’ve seen
Silva lost to Yushin Okami (DQ), Ryo Chonan (flying scissor heel hook), Daiju Takase (Triangle) and in his first pro fight Luiz Azeredo (Decision).
On the avatar, you have to do crop and edit a couple times, then click next or whatever each time, make sure you go through the whole process. If that doesn’t get it done, Kris may be able to help you a little bit better, send a message to admin and tell him what’s going on.
i can’t get my picture up i selected it and they had me do the thing were u can trim it and stuff but it wont come up.
the picture is Cung Lee kicking somebody in the head
watch this the second fight is where A. silva loses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfcyyY9GoBE
Wtf Sanchez,why? they better not cut kurt pellegrino!!!! pshhh. well new recruits for strikeforce n affliction…
what?