Midnight Mania! Eight Athletes Released In Massive Roster Purge

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Even on holidays, the UFC machine doesn’t take a break. Automated UFC roster tracking account, UFC Roster Watch, announced the release of eight athletes from the promotion. Occasionally, these fighters are simply in negotiations or suspended by USADA, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for any of the following former UFC fighters: Magomed Mustafaev, Misha Cirkunov, Nick Maximov, Darian Weeks, Cameron VanCamp, Jesse Ronson, Charlie Ontiveros, Louis Cosce.

Of those names, Mustafaev is the most surprising. The Russian “Sniper” won four of his six UFC fights, and each win came via knockout, including his stoppage of current top contender Rafael Fiziev. Mustafaev hasn’t fought since February 2020, but several of the fight cancellations were due to opponent issues.

It’s not clear why Mustafaev was canned.

Maximov is a touch surprising as well. He’s evenly split four fights inside the Octagon, recently coming up short opposite Jacob Malkoun after blowing out his knee in the opening round. Still, the Diaz trainee isn’t the most entertaining fighter, so it’s not entirely shocking.

Of all those released, Cirkunov was once the highest ranked. He climbed into the Light Heavyweight Top 10 after a strong start to his UFC career, but after his first loss Volkan Oezdemir, everything fell apart for the Canadian black belt. He lost his last four bouts, including his October 15 knockout loss to Alonzo Menifield.

None of the other releases really stand out, as the remaining five fighters never managed to score a UFC victory in their time with the company.

Insomnia

Happy Halloween from the Midnight Mania crew (it’s just me) and a bunch of UFC fighters/their families!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

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Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.