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And Now They’re Fired: Karlos Vemola, Roger Hollett, and a Bunch of Guys You’ve Probably Never Heard of Get the Axe

(Hollett’s spinning elbow may have been way off the mark that night, but his impression of a James Toney side check kick was SPOT ON.)

Another Monday morning means another batch of UFC firings, Nation. Thankfully, none of the names on today’s list should really come as all that big a surprise, so let’s quit beating around the bush and get right to this thing…

Roger “The Hulk” Hollett: This one-time Bellator veteran was originally brought over to face Matt Hamill in his un-retirement fight at UFC 152, was then forced out of the fight do to a contract dispute with his former promotion (Author’s note: My shocked face. Let me show you it.) and replaced by Vladimir Matyushenko, and was then brought back in against Hamill when Vladdy went down with an injury. Unfortunately, the story ends with Hollett getting his ass handed to him in a snoozer at UFC 152, then getting similarly outgunned by Fabio Maldonado at UFC on FX 8 last month. Sad story, bro. This one’s on us.

(Hollett’s spinning elbow may have been way off the mark that night, but his impression of a James Toney side check kick was SPOT ON.)

Karlos “The Terminator” Vemola: Not since Kenny Florian have we seen a fighter change weight classes so many times over the course of a UFC career. After entering the promotion as a heavyweight in 2010 and suffering a UD loss to Jon Madsen, Vemola immediately dropped down to 205, where he scored a KOTN-earning win over the now-retired Seth Petruzelli at UFC 122. A decision loss to Ronny Markes in his next contest would sending him down to the middleweight division, where he would submit Mike Massenzio with a rear-naked choke at UFC on FOX 3 before getting rear-naked choked by Francis Carmont and Caio Magalhaes in back-to-back fights.

Nah-Shon Burrell: This is the one guy on the list that everyone appears to be making a big stink over, although the evidence against him seems pretty compelling. For starters, Burrell couldn’t make weight in both his Strikeforce and UFC debuts (the latter of which he missed by a metric fuckton, scientifically speaking). Secondly, he needed two attempts to make weight for his eventual decision loss to Stephen Thompson at UFC 160. Although his UFC record currently stands at an even 1-1, Anthony Johnson will tell you that being a fatty boom-boom in the UFC is a surefire way to get the boot, regardless of your merit as a fighter.

Eddie Mendez: 0-1 in the UFC, was quickly submitted by TUF Brazil finalist Daniel Sarafian in the opening bout of UFC on FUEL 10 earlier in the month. Moving on…

Anthony “Lionheart” Smith: After getting submitted by Roger Gracie at the final Strikeforce event, Smith was also submitted at UFC on FUEL 10 via a kneebar at the hands of Antonio Braga Neto in just under two minutes. Man, it looks like submission defense is just under shit-talking skills on the checklist of reasons to keep a fighter in the UFC these days.

Leandro Silva: *Also* 0-1 in the UFC, Silva was outworked by Ildemar Alcantara en route to a UD loss at, you guessed it, UFC on FUEL 10. Hey, at least he always has professional soccer to fall back on.

–J. Jones

Matt Hamill Pulls a Jamie Varner and Un-Retires, Brilliance of His Decision to Be Determined at UFC 152

(No, Rampage, that’s not a white tiger! Bad Rampage! Down!)

Can MMA fighters just start referring to these so called “retirements” as what they really are (an extended vacation), or do they simply have too much pride? I only ask because, after retiring less than twenty pay-per-views ago (that’s roughly a year in human people time), it appears that TUF 3 light heavyweight alum Matt Hamill will be returning to action at UFC 152, where he will be taking on promotional newcomer and Bellator veteran Roger Hollett.

Being that Matt is one of the more inspirational figures in the sport, not to mention hails from just a few towns away from me, I was initially excited to hear this news. Sure, Matt will probably not be getting his revenge (or whatever you’d call it considering he won) on Jon Jones anytime soon, but he makes for a great addition to any card, and produces good fights for the most part with the occasional skull shattering KO mixed in. However, upon reading over what BG (or at least who I assume was BG, being that I’m the only one who signs his damn posts around here) wrote when Hamill originally announced his retirement, I couldn’t help but reconsider:

Prior to Saturday night, Hamill’s only career losses came against former champions Quinton Jackson and Rich Franklin, as well as his controversial split-decision loss against Michael Bisping…But losing to a mid-level up-and-comer like Gustafsson (Ed note: How things change in a year, amiright?) was apparently the final sign that the game was passing him by. It’s rare to find an MMA fighter who hangs up the gloves before the sport has completely chewed him up. Hats off to Hamill for a fantastic career, and for knowing when to walk away.

Granted, Hammil stated that part of the reason he had decided to retire was due to a “career [that] has been plagued by injuries starting with The Ultimate Fighter and disrupted my training ever since,” so perhaps he has finally had the time to sufficiently heal up. That being said, what do you think of his decision? Will it go the way of Jamie Varner, or is “The Hammer” just setting himself up to get dicknailed?

(No, Rampage, that’s not a white tiger! Bad Rampage! Down!)

Prior to Saturday night, Hamill’s only career losses came against former champions Quinton Jackson and Rich Franklin, as well as his controversial split-decision loss against Michael Bisping…But losing to a mid-level up-and-comer like Gustafsson (Ed note: How things change in a year, amiright?) was apparently the final sign that the game was passing him by. It’s rare to find an MMA fighter who hangs up the gloves before the sport has completely chewed him up. Hats off to Hamill for a fantastic career, and for knowing when to walk away.

Prior to the second round loss he suffered at the hands of Gustafsson at UFC 133, Hammil dropped the aforementioned unanimous decision to Jackson in a snoozer at UFC 130, but prior to that, he collected five straight victories over the likes of Keith Jardine (via MD), Tito Ortiz (via UD), and Jon Jones (via DQ) among others. His record currently stands at 10-4, with 6 of those victories coming by way of (T)KO.

Hamill will be squaring off against 13-3 Roger “The Hulk” Hollett, who has put together a five fight win streak of his own over the past three years. Though he doesn’t hold many notable victories to his credit, Hollett most recently scored a split decision victory over John Hawk in his Bellator debut last November. Upon doing a little research, I found that John is in no way related to Lincoln Hawk, who would have totally thrown Hollett through a glass door on his way to the ring and that would’ve been the end of it. So……there’s that.

…

*crickets*

Who you like for this one?

–J. Jones

W-1: New Ground to Feature Rogers, Yager, Romero, Pierson and Hollett October 23 in Halifax

(You smell that? That’s tire grease, son!!) In an interesting development, Strikeforce is lending out onetime heavyweight contender Brett Rogers to compete on Warrior One MMA’s upcoming October 23 “New Ground” card in Halifax, Nova Scotia…

(You smell that? That’s tire grease, son!!)

In an interesting development, Strikeforce is lending out onetime heavyweight contender Brett Rogers to compete on Warrior One MMA’s upcoming October 23 “New Ground” card in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

W-1 announced the card on its website yesterday.

The news is good for the fast-rising Canadian promotion, but is somewhat baffling, considering that Strikeforce’s heavyweight division is in a bit of disarray at the moment and the extra body might be needed before year’s end.