UFC planning ‘serious cuts’ to roster, 60 fighters to be let go by year’s end

UFC president Dana White revealed that the fight promotion is planning to prune its roster. During Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 Post-Fight Press Conference, White said that 60 fighters are expected to be handed their walking papers by the end of the year.

“We’re going to go through some serious cuts here at the end of the year.  We’re probably going to have 60 cuts coming up before the first of the year,” White said.

White’s comments come one day after the organization parted ways with No. 5 ranked middleweight Yoel Romero. Romero has lost his last three fights and is 43 years old, but he was highly ranked and a former multiple-time title challenger. His last fight was a title bout.

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“Our roster is very inflated right now.  We’re going to have some big cuts coming before the end of the year.  You’re going to see a lot of names going here in the next several weeks,” White said.

Difficult times force difficult decisions. White’s choice of words may give some insight into who we can expect to see let go. He said, “a lot of names” are going.

With the recent departure of former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva followed by Romero’s sudden exit, some household names are likely going to be part of the roster pruning.

“These are the tough decisions that you have to make,” said White.

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