Report: Former Sengoku champ among 4 fighters removed from UFC roster

It looks like a few more fighters are on their way out of the UFC this month.

April appears to have been an especially deep month for UFC roster trimming. To date, ten fighters have either been removed from the ranks over at UFC.com, or have self reported their release from the promotion. The latest names include strawweight Emily Peters Kagan, bantamweight Masanori Kanehara, featherweight Damon Jackson, and recent TUF alum Martin Svensson. UFCFIGHTERSiNFO reported most of the changes to the UFC’s database via Twitter.

[Deleted] Emily Peters Kagan (Women’s Straw)https://t.co/nZfB0IsOE2

— UFCFIGHTERSiNFO (@UFCFIGHTERSiNFO) April 18, 2016

[Deleted] Masanori Kanehara (Bantam)
[Deleted] Martin Svensson (Light)https://t.co/nZfB0IsOE2

— UFCFIGHTERSiNFO (@UFCFIGHTERSiNFO) April 18, 2016

Not much in the way of surprise with Kagan and Kanehara. Despite the thinness of the division, the UFC hasn’t done women strawweights many favors with multiple chances. Ericka Almeida and Angela Hill were both released of two losses and Izabela Badurek had only one fight for the promotion before getting axed. Kagan definitely seemed to be at a disadvantage against the better athletes in the division, and while her career is still very young, at 34, that athletic disparity is probably only going to grow.

For Kanehara, his short UFC career has largely existed in the deep end of the bantamweight division. The former Sengoku champ was kind of surprise signing when he stepped in against Alex Caceres on short notice in Japan. Even more surprisingly, he won. Still bad followed good and Kanehara dropped his next two bouts against Rani Yahya and Michael McDonald. While both fights were competitive, that may have been enough for the UFC to determine that the 33-year-old with almost 13 years of MMA experience was probably not about to be a major player in the division.

MMAJunkie reported Damon Jackson’s release, which is something of a surprise, considering he was 0-1-1 (1 NC) with the promotion at the time of his release. But without a win in three tries it’s not necessarily out of left field. Still, at only 27-years-old and having just started his pro-career back in 2012, there’s every possibility that he reels off another long winning streak and finds himself with another shot in the big show before too long.

Additionally, it appears the UFC released Cage Warriors vet and TUF 22 cast member Martin Svensson. That’s pretty standard policy for TUF fighters that aren’t finalists and don’t win their first bout with the promotion. It may be an especially tough break for Svensson however, as he’s in the prime of his career and may spend those years outside the UFC.

It looks like a few more fighters are on their way out of the UFC this month.

April appears to have been an especially deep month for UFC roster trimming. To date, ten fighters have either been removed from the ranks over at UFC.com, or have self reported their release from the promotion. The latest names include strawweight Emily Peters Kagan, bantamweight Masanori Kanehara, featherweight Damon Jackson, and recent TUF alum Martin Svensson. UFCFIGHTERSiNFO reported most of the changes to the UFC’s database via Twitter.

Not much in the way of surprise with Kagan and Kanehara. Despite the thinness of the division, the UFC hasn’t done women strawweights many favors with multiple chances. Ericka Almeida and Angela Hill were both released of two losses and Izabela Badurek had only one fight for the promotion before getting axed. Kagan definitely seemed to be at a disadvantage against the better athletes in the division, and while her career is still very young, at 34, that athletic disparity is probably only going to grow.

For Kanehara, his short UFC career has largely existed in the deep end of the bantamweight division. The former Sengoku champ was kind of surprise signing when he stepped in against Alex Caceres on short notice in Japan. Even more surprisingly, he won. Still bad followed good and Kanehara dropped his next two bouts against Rani Yahya and Michael McDonald. While both fights were competitive, that may have been enough for the UFC to determine that the 33-year-old with almost 13 years of MMA experience was probably not about to be a major player in the division.

MMAJunkie reported Damon Jackson’s release, which is something of a surprise, considering he was 0-1-1 (1 NC) with the promotion at the time of his release. But without a win in three tries it’s not necessarily out of left field. Still, at only 27-years-old and having just started his pro-career back in 2012, there’s every possibility that he reels off another long winning streak and finds himself with another shot in the big show before too long.

Additionally, it appears the UFC released Cage Warriors vet and TUF 22 cast member Martin Svensson. That’s pretty standard policy for TUF fighters that aren’t finalists and don’t win their first bout with the promotion. It may be an especially tough break for Svensson however, as he’s in the prime of his career and may spend those years outside the UFC.