By Adam Martin
There weren’t many new fight matchups announced last week, but there were some fighters let go.
The UFC last week released nine guys from its roster, some of them well known, some of them less known. Below are four featherweight fighters that were released and my thoughts on whether or not I agree with the UFC’s decision to give them their pink slips.
Antonio Carvalho
The one fighter made jobless last week that stirred the most controversy amongst fans and observers of the sport was Canadian Antonio Carvalho. The Ajax, Ont., fighter who lost to Darren Elkins by TKO in March at UFC 158 in Montreal. Coming off a win in his previous fight and with a 2-2 overall record in the UFC, many believed that the UFC was too quick to pull the trigger on Carvalho’s release, especially since his loss to Elkins was controversial.
I was at the Bell Centre for UFC 159 and I believe that referee Yves Lavigne stopped the fight against Elkins too early. Yes, Carvalho was hurt, but how many times have we seen a fighter hurt and then come back to defeat his opponent? Think back to Pete Sell vs. Scott Smith, or Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo. Those fights produced two of the most exciting finishes in UFC history but we would have never seen them if the referee didn’t give the fighter a chance to fight through getting rocked.
In Elkins vs. Carvalho, who knows what would have happened had Lavigne given Carvalho a chance to fight through adversity. He stopped that fight too soon, which may have ultimately cost the fighter his job. It sucks, and it’s a shame that the UFC couldn’t recognize a controversial stoppage and given Carvalho another chance to compete; but hey, I guess life’s not fair, right?
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Leonard Garcia
One fighter that I don’t have a problem with the UFC cutting is Leonard Garcia, whose recent loss to Cody McKenzie at UFC 159 was his fifth straight setback in the Octagon. No one deserves to be in the UFC with five straight losses on his record, so this was the easiest cut for the UFC to make out of all of them.
I like Garcia. I think he comes across as a very nice guy and he’s been involved in some of the most exciting fights in UFC and WEC history. But he’s not a good fighter anymore and he hasn’t evolved his game to keep up with the other featherweights in the division. He doesn’t deserve his spot on the roster anymore and therefore I can’t say anything bad about the UFC’s decision to sever ties with him.
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Kurt Holobaugh
The cut that I disagree with the most was that to youngster Kurt Holobaugh, who lost a close decision to Steven Siler at UFC 159 to drop his overall record in Zuffa to 0-2. Sure, 0-2 isn’t a good record but records must be judged on a case-by-case basis, and I believe Holobaugh’s Zuffa record is a bit deceiving.
His first loss in Zuffa came to Pat Healy at the Strikeforce finale. But it was a fight that Holobaugh took on very short notice, and he even stepped up a weight class to take on Healy, who is one of the biggest lightweights out there, and also one of the best lightweights out there as he’s ranked in the top 10 of the division. A loss to Healy – and a very close loss at that – is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, especially since the fight was very exciting.
And yes, he did lose to Siler, but again, he stepped in as an injury replacement for Jimy Hettes, it was a close fight and one of the most exciting fights of UFC 159. Considering Holobaugh is a young guy whom the UFC doesn’t have to pay much money to, I can’t believe they released him after those two fights. They should have given him one more chance to get a win, but they didn’t and now Holobaugh is a free agent. And whatever promotion – Bellator, World Series of Fighting, etc. – ends up with him, they’ll be lucky because this is a very solid youngster with a bright future in the sport and the UFC made a mistake giving up on him so soon.
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Sam Sicilia
After a stint on TUF Live and a 1-2 record inside the Octagon, the UFC decided to let go of heavy-handed Sam Sicilia after his recent unanimous decision loss to Maximo Blanco at the TUF 17 finale. This is a cut I don’t agree with because, like Carvalho, the referee in his last fight may have cost him his job.
During the fight against Blanco, referee Kim Winslow warned the Brazilian about 10 times during the fight not to grab the cage during Sicilia’s takedown attempts. Yet Blanco kept grabbing the fence and, despite Winslow’s warnings, the referee didn’t take a point away. At the end of three rounds, Blanco won the fight 29-28 on each of the judges’ cards, but had a point been deducted like it should have been, the fight would have been a draw.
If the fight had been a draw the UFC would have had no right to cut Sicilia, but because the referee didn’t take a point away and he lost the bout, they were well within their rights to. In my opinion that’s just wrong. They should have given Sicilia one more chance in the cage and it’s unfortunate that Winslow’s decision may have affected a fighter’s livelihood.
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