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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues to tighten up its roster as it makes room for a new crop of mixed martial arts (MMA) hopefuls by way of Dana White’s “Contender Series,” which has not been shy about putting pen to paper.

The following fighters are no longer under contract with UFC, according to MMA Junkie:

Aleksandra Albu (3-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC)
Ali Alqaisi (8-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC)
Cyril Asker (9-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC)
Alex Chambers (5-5 MMA, 1-4 UFC)
Chris De La Rocha (5-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC)
Syuri Kondo (6-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC)
Bojan Mihajlovic (10-6 MMA, 0-3 UFC)
Suman Mokhtarian (8-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC)

None of these releases come as much of a surprise based on their UFC records.

At this point it’s fair to assume that UFC will continue to part ways with fighters — or not re-sign combatants who are performing below expectations — on a more regular basis. The promotion regularly cycles in new talent and that requires existing athletes (like this guy) to say goodbye.

The bantamweight contender is sporting a hole in the middle of his forehead. A hole.

You knew it was coming. As the resident gore expert around here, it is my job to bring you the worst of the worst in mixed martial arts injuries, so I am presenting you with the most recent one courtesy of UFC bantamweight Brian “Boom” Kelleher.

Kelleher competed at UFC 258 last Saturday against Ricky Simón and lost by way of unanimous decision after 15 minutes. Simón controlled the fight with relentless pressure and wrestling, which saw Kelleher on his back defending submission attempts for most of their shared time in the Octagon.

Kelleher may have been busy dealing with Simón and his constant attacks, but that was not the only thing he had to worry about. Early in the fight, Simón landed an elbow from guard during an exchange on the ground and opened up a brutal cut right in the center of Kelleher’s forehead.

After being sliced open, Kelleher was pushed up against the fence while being squeezed by Simón and blood started pouring out of the fresh wound. As bad as it looked on the broadcast, the severity of the injury was not truly understood until a few days after the fight.

Kelleher took to Twitter on Tuesday evening to share a photo of himself in the process of getting stitched up and it is not a pretty sight to behold. To be as blunt and dramatic as possible, it appears as though we are looking directly into Kelleher’s brain through this quarter-sized hole in his head.

(Warning: Graphic photo ahead. Proceed with caution.)

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“Scar too deep for a bandaid solution,” wrote Kelleher alongside the photo.

A bandaid is definitely not covering that up. Kelleher did not share how many stitches he needed to close the hole, but we imagine it must have been quite a few.

The reaction from fans was mixed, with some of them gagging at the sight and others posting their own photos of what the cut reminded them off. A personal favorite came from this Twitter user, who photoshopped a newborn Xenomorph from the horror movie Alien bursting out of Kelleher’s forehead like the famed chestburster scene. 10/10 for creativity.

There is no timetable as far as his return goes, but hopefully Kelleher does not need a lot of time away and we see him back sooner than later.

Bryan Caraway has been accused of insurance fraud and first-degree theft over an ATV owned by Miesha Tate.

The Tri-City Herald reports that former UFC fighter Bryan Caraway has been charged with insurance fraud over a saga involving an ATV that belongs to his former girlfriend Miesha Tate.

The charge against Caraway stems from allegations that he forged the title for a 2015 Polaris RZR all-terrain vehicle replacing Tate’s name with his own and that he falsely claimed the vehicle was stolen.

Authorities state that Caraway reported the ATV as being stolen, a few days after buying an insurance policy on the vehicle. In his theft claim to the insurers Caraway reported that the vehicle and its contents, which included helmets, a battery charger and a spare tire, were worth $18,500.

Caraway is also reportedly under investigation for grand larceny on suspicion that he stole the ATV, on two separate occasions, from Tate’s Las Vegas property.

During an insurance investigation Caraway told investigators that Tate gave him the ATV when they broke up in 2017. Tate told investigators she never sold or gifted the vehicle to Caraway.

At one point during the investigation Caraway is alleged to have told an investigator that he wanted to “strangle” Tate and steal the vehicle back.

Caraway is accused of claiming the ATV was stolen after Tate picked the vehicle up, along with a trailer, from a home they once shared in Richland, WA. Caraway claimed he had no idea who had taken the ATV.

In February 2019 surveillance video allegedly captured Caraway stealing the ATV from Tate’s property. The vehicle was later found in the garage of Caraway’s current girlfriend. Las Vegas police located and returned the vehicle to Tate.

It is alleged that, two weeks later, Caraway was again captured on surveillance footage stealing the vehicle from Tate’s property.

Due to these allegations, and a missed court date, Caraway was briefly placed on Washington State’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s Most Wanted list.

Caraway was removed from the list after he contacted the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office to arrange a new arraignment date.

He is now schedule to appear in court on March to enter a plea regarding charges of forgery, making a false statement on a vehicle application certificate of title, false claims of proof in excess of $1,500 and first-degree attempted theft.

Caraway joined the UFC through The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller in 2011. His pro Octagon debut was a submission win over Dustin Neace on that series finale. Caraway would go 6-4 in the UFC with wins over Aljamain Sterling and Eddie Wineland. He ended his time with the UFC after back-to-back losses to Cody Stamann and Pedro Munhoz in 2018.

In 2019 he signed for South Korean promotion Battlefield FC.