The featherweight action talent known as ‘Hick Diaz’ appears to have ended his run in the UFC after a 4-fight losing skid. He’s joined by three other fighters whose next bout will be outside the Octagon.
Keeping a spot in the UFC has never been an easy gig. For every fighter that has become a poromotional mainstay over the past near two decades of Zuffa & WME-IMG ownership, there are many many more whose time with the promotion has ended far before they were ready to call it quits.
While the UFC isn’t quite the same brutal proving ground it once was – there was a time when two straight losses felt like it guaranteed a pink slip – a few new faces have been added to the list of fighters whose next time stepping into the cage will be outside the Octagon.
Most notable on that list is formerly fast-rising featherweight action fighter Jason Knight, as first reported by BJPenn.com. Also known affectionately as ‘Hick Diaz,’ Knight burst on the scene with a competitive loss to JMMA legend Tatsuya Kawajiri. He followed that up with four straight wins, including Dan Hooker, Alex Caceres, and Chas Skelly. But that momentum came to a screeching halt across the latter half of 2017 and into 2018, when Knight lost four straight fights, to a slowly decreasing level of competition. Knight is reportedly looking to Bellator and ONE Championship for opportunities to bounce back and potentially earn another shot in the UFC.
Joining Knight, MMA Fighting reports, is recent welterweight pickup Craig ‘Thundercat’ White. A notable action fighter for Cage Warriors and on the UK regional scene, White was signed to the UFC off a four-fight win streak to face Neil Magny on last May’s Liverpool card after Gunnar Nelson pulled out of the bout due to a knee injury. White went on to lose that fight via first round TKO — and would later reveal that he cut 46 lbs to make the welterweight limit on short notice. As a followup, White was booked against former title contender Diego Sanchez at UFC 228, where he lost a unanimous decision on the back of Sanchez’s takedowns and chain grappling. The 28-year-old is expected to return to Cage Warriors following his release from the UFC.
The release of Japanese flyweight Naoki Inoue (as reported by MMAjunkie) shouldn’t be surprising, except for the recent news that the UFC is extending Joseph Benavidez’s contract at flyweight. The younger brother of top Invicta talent Mizuki Inoue was seen by many as one of Japan’s top prospects, coming to the UFC with an unbeaten 10-0 record. He even won his first bout, against CJ de Tomas, before dropping a split decision to Matt Schnell in Singapore back in June. Over the course of his short UFC run, Inoue moved much of his training out to team Serra Longo in New York – along with his sister – and his return to the regionals reflects that. Inoue has already been signed by New Jersey’s CFFC promotion and faces Sean Santella in February.
The final recent UFC release (h/t Nolan King) comes in the form of Filipino featherweight Rolando Dy. Dy cut his teeth with Pacific Xtreme Combat on his way to a UFC debut against Alex Caceres in Singapore in 2017. Losses to Teruto Ishihara and Shane Young sandwiched a decent showing agaisnt Wulifi Buren — where Dy also missed weight. Dy had said he was thinking of retiring before the Young fight, but agreed to take one last bout that finished out his contract back in June. The 27-year-old is currently booked to face 8-1 Izzeddine Al Derbani at Abu Dhabi Warriors 5 on January 26th.