“Lex Luthor” is no longer is in the UFC.
A couple of years ago, we used to do round-ups of apparent roster cuts by the UFC, which were effectively revealed through someone’s special Ruby script (UFCFIGHTERSiNFO) that combed through the UFC website’s database of fighters. Those days seem to be over, and in fact you scarcely hear about when fighters are cut/don’t re-sign with the UFC, but this week we do have a few notes to pass along.
TUF Brazil 3 finalist and middleweight Vitor Miranda (12-8) has been let go after his third consecutive defeat. He confirmed the news on his Instagram account. Miranda lost to Antonio Carlos Junior in the TUF Brazil 3 heavyweight final, and then immediately dropped to middleweight for his next fight. “Lex Luthor” racked up three straight TKO wins over Jake Collier, Clint Hester, and Marcelo Guimaraes. Unfortunately for him, those successes were soon followed by decision losses to Chris Camozzi, Marvin Vettori, and most recently Abu Azaitar. Miranda already claims he’s negotiating with other promotions.
Also off the roster is light heavyweight James Bochnovic (8-3), whose two-fight stint saw him get KO’d by Trevin Giles and submitted by Markus Perez. He has a bout lined up on the regional scene already.
Women’s strawweight Viviane Pereira has opted not to re-sign with the UFC after her four-fight deal had expired. Pereira (13-2) started out brightly, winning her debut vs. Valerie Letourneau and besting Jamie Moyle in her next outing. Consecutive decision losses to Tatiana Suarez and Yao Xiaonan saw her UFC mark drop to 2-2, and on her Instagram page, she indicated that “it was not possible to renew because the UFC has its criteria.”
Lastly, “Judo” Jim Wallhead is under contract with Bellator MMA, who signed a host of British and Irish fighters to its roster. Wallhead (29-11) failed to win either of his two UFC fights, losing a decision to Jessin Ayari before being choked out by Luan Chagas in June 2017. Afterwards, Wallhead was handed a nine-month USADA suspension after testing positive for Ostarine, and is now eligible to return to competition as of last month.