UFC cuts four fighters from roster

The UFC has parted ways with four fighters, cutting Mara Romero Borella, Iuri Alcantara, Jeff Hughes and Khadis Ibragimov from its roster.

UFC officials confirmed this news to MMA Fighting.

All four of the aforementioned fighters are riding losses.

Borella, a strawweight who fights out of Italy, lost her last four fights, coming up short against Lauren Murphy, Montana De La Rosa, Cortney Casey, and most recently, Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC Vegas 11. Three of those four losses came by way of submission or TKO.

Alcantara, a 40-year-old Brazilian bantamweight, has not fought since 2018, when he was submitted by Cory Sandhagen. His last win occured in 2018, when he knocked out Joe Soto. He has been a member of the UFC roster since 2011, but seems to closing in on retirement.

Hughes, an American heavyweight, last fought at UFC 253, when he was choked out by Spain’s Juan Espino. In his two previous bouts, he lost decisions to Raphael Pessoa and Maurice Greene.

Ibragimov, finally, is a light heavyweight out of Russia. He lost all four of his UFC appearances, coming up short against Da Un Jung, Ed Herman, Roman Dolidze, and most recently, Danilo Marques.

While it’s always unfortunate to see fighters get released from the UFC, nobody in this batch of roster cuts comes as a particular surprise. Furthermore, the promotion’s President, Dana White, has made no secret of the fact that cuts will continue in order to make room for new talent signed on Contender Series.

“It’s all a numbers game,” White said back in August. “We have to give everybody three fights a year, so you can only have so many people under contract.

“Every once in awhile, you’ll see a huge cut,” White added. “We’ll go through and there will be 14, 15 guys cut in a week. Stuff like that. That’s the nature of the beast.”