Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Spicely cited his recent antidepressant use, following head trauma received in his last UFC fight, as the reason for missing weight.
Even at the outset of fight week, the UFC’s return to the Apex facility from Abu Dhabi already had a sense of snake bite about it. The main event had been rescheduled and three other fighters had withdrawn due to COVID-related concerns. By the time the event wrapped up, with only 16 fighters actually making it to fight night, there could be no doubt,however . UFC Vegas 5 was cursed.
And unfortunately, it seems the man feeling the full brunt of whatever wrathful gods have been angered is former UFC middleweight Eric Spicely.
Spicely had been set to take on Markus Perez on the evening’s prelim card, his first UFC booking in over a year to actually make it to fight week. Unfortunately a botched weight cut, which Spicely later admitted was due to complications caused by a recent prescription for antidepressants, caused the bout to be cancelled. Spicely told fans on Twitter that he had started taking the antidepressants to combat head trauma suffered in his 2019 loss to Deron Winn – Spicely’s first bout back in the UFC since being released a year earlier – and that this was his first time cutting weight on this new medication.
Unfortunately, as reasonable an explanation as that may seem, it appears the UFC is no longer interested in the middleweight’s services. Just a few days after the eventm Spicely gave fans an update on Twitter, announcing that his UFC contract had been terminated.
Alright @ufc this is goodbye again for now. Let’s see if we can do a 3 peat. Sorry to all my fans.
— éS (@EricSpicely) August 3, 2020
Whether the UFC felt that Spicely’s potential heath risks were too great to keep him under contract with the organization, or simply that his inability to make weight on fight day constituted to great a lack of professionalism, it doesn’t appear that the Tristar fighter bears any ill will toward the UFC or its matchmakers.
I thank the @ufc , @Mickmaynard2 @espnmma for everything. I will 100 percent get this sorted out and come back stronger. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.
— éS (@EricSpicely) August 3, 2020
‘Zebrinha’ followed that news with the note that he’ll be looking to take fights both at middleweight and light heavyweight as soon as possible, since he hasn’t made money “in over a year.”
Bloody Elbow has reached out to the UFC for comment on Spicely’s release, but has yet to receive a reply at the time of publication.