Misha Cirkunov is among three very notable ranked UFC fighters who are currently not under contract with the promotion.
The UFC’s latest fighter rankings update has removed three quite prominent fighters from its list. Free agent Lorenz Larkin no longer being ranked may be a sign that he won’t be re-signing with the promotion, but out of left field are two names you wouldn’t have expected. MMAjunkie’s Mike Bohn reported on Wednesday that Misha Cirkunov and Rick Story are also not under UFC contract right now.
Misha Cirkunov, Lorenz Larkin & Rick Story have been removed from latest UFC rankings. I’m told none are currently under UFC contract.
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) February 2, 2017
In the case of Cirkunov (13-2), Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston says that he still is looking to re-sign with the UFC. Cirkunov is a perfect 4-0 inside the Octagon, and his UFC 206 win over Nikita Krylov marked the last fight on his contract.
Story (19-9) is coming off a TKO loss to Donald Cerrone at UFC 202. That defeat was the first time “The Horror” had ever been finished with strikes. Story had previously won three straight, including a main event win over Gunnar Nelson in October 2014. With 19 UFC fighter under his belt, the 32-year-old is two fights short of reaching the $20,000 Reebok sponsorship tier.
Larkin (18-5, 1 NC) entered free agency following his TKO win over Neil Magny, also at UFC 202. “Da Monsoon” also holds a split decision win over Jorge Masvidal, and is otherwise 4-1 since dropping to welterweight. MMAjunkie recently reported that Bellator MMA couldn’t agree to financial terms with Larkin.
Bloody Elbow will continue to update the situation on all three of these fighters as more details become available.