Tag: UFC firings

And Now They’re Fired: Jon Fitch, Paul Sass, and 14 Other Fighters Axed by the UFC


(You think it would be damn near impossible to sum up an 18-fight UFC career in one image, yet here we are.) 

Wow.

When we announced just hours ago that Jacob Volkmann had been cut from the UFC as part of a vast, government-led ploy to disarm the public following a 1-2 run in his last 3 fights, little did we know that his termination was just the precursor for one of the largest mass firings in UFC history. But that appears to be the case, as it was recently made public that Volkmann was but one of 16 fighters to be cut from the UFC today.

Among the dead are a few guys you probably wont recognize (C.J. Keith, Motonobu Tezuka (?), Simeon Thoresen), a few guys who probably had it coming (Vladimir Matyushenko, Mike Russow, Mike Stumpf) and a couple of guys who couldn’t find a win in the UFC if they sold their souls to Dana White Satan (the continuously underwhelming Jorge Santiago and poor, poor Jay Hieron).

However, if you were to continue looking over said list, you would find a couple inclusions that would not only make you scratch your head, but possibly shave your head, eyebrows, body hair, and nipples off in a hallucinogenic stupor. After the jump, we’ve compiled our own list of the most shocking entries.


(You think it would be damn near impossible to sum up an 18-fight UFC career in one image, yet here we are.) 

Wow.

When we announced just hours ago that Jacob Volkmann had been cut from the UFC as part of a vast, government-led ploy to disarm the public following a 1-2 run in his last 3 fights, little did we know that his termination was just the precursor for one of the largest mass firings in UFC history. But that appears to be the case, as it was recently made public that Volkmann was but one of 16 fighters to be cut from the UFC today.

Among the dead are a few guys you probably wont recognize (C.J. Keith, Motonobu Tezuka (?), Simeon Thoresen), a few guys who probably had it coming (Vladimir Matyushenko, Mike Russow, Mike Stumpf) and a couple of guys who couldn’t find a win in the UFC if they sold their souls to Dana White Satan (the continuously underwhelming Jorge Santiago and poor, poor Jay Hieron).

However, if you were to continue looking over said list, you would find a couple inclusions that would not only make you scratch your head, but possibly shave your head, eyebrows, body hair, and nipples off in a hallucinogenic stupor. After the jump, we’ve compiled our own list of the most shocking entries.

Jon Fitch: That’s right, the man who is currently ranked at #9 on the UFC’s “official” welterweight rankings list, which were made public all of two weeks ago, has been axed for the second time in his 18-fight UFC career. While his first exit from the promotion wasn’t exactly performance-related, it’s hard to say that his second is any different. Fitch may be 1-2-1 in his past four bouts, but that lone victory came in a thrilling match over one of the division’s hottest prospects in Erick Silva. Not to mention Fitch’s thirteen other victories in the UFC. But yeah, keep trying to convince us that those rankings are anything other than a steaming pile of (adorable) dog shit.

Che Mills: 2-2 in the UFC, Mills was more than likely fired for basically giving up in the third round of his fight with Matt Riddle at UFC on FUEL 7, a move that immediately earned him the ire of The Baldfather.

Paul Sass: Talk a bout a hype-deflation. Sass came into the UFC riding a ten-fight unbeaten streak and quickly proved that he was the real deal by submitting his first three UFC opponents. However, after being dealt a taste of his own medicine compliments of Matt Wiman at UFC on FUEL 5, Sass would drop a follow-up contest to Danny Castillo, also at UFC on FUEL 7, which was apparently enough for the UFC to sever their ties with the Brit. Speaking of Brits…

Terry Etim: 6-5 UFC, on the heels of his second straight loss to Renee Forte at, you guessed it, UFC on FUEL 7 in London. Although Etim has fought just once a year since 2009 and is best known for being on the wrong end of the greatest knockout of 2012, this is still kind of a shocking entry considering the following he had gained amongst UK MMA fans. We guess shit happens when you drop a decision in your home country.

Other fighters who find themselves unemployed as of today are…

Wagner Prado: 0-2 and 1 NC, lost both fights by second round submission.

Josh Grispi: 0-4 UFC, officially became one of the biggest busts in UFC history (as we pretty much predicted) when he dropped a UD to Andy Ogle at UFC on FUEL 7.

Ulysses “Useless” Gomez: 0-2 UFC, also dropped a decision at UFC on FUEL 7. Expect several nickname-based puns to start popping up on comment boards across the MMA blogosphere any minute now.

Jacob Volkmann: We’ve already covered this one. In short, blame Obama.

Again, Leonard Garcia is still in the UFC. That is all.

–J. Jones

And Now He’s Fired: Future POTUS Jacob Volkmann Becomes the Latest Victim of the Obama Unemployment Crisis


(In an even stranger turn of events, it was revealed that Vollkmann was actually required by law to wear that shirt whenever he was within a half mile of a playground.) 

My God how the time flies. You might not have realized it — mainly because he is the type of fighter that screams “Facebook prelims” — but outspoken Minnesotan (new band name, called it) Jacob Volkmann has been fighting for the UFC for upwards of three years now, and has collected an impressive 6-4 record in the promotion. Outside of the octagon, Volkmann gained notoriety over the years for once threatening to rip off President Obama’s arm and subsequently receiving a visit from the Secret Service, an incident he would parlay into hundreds of thousands of tens of dollars in hideous, neon orange t-shirt sales.

But unfortunately for all of us Tea Party-supporting, lay-n-pray aficionados, Volkmann’s avant-garde experiment that dared combine the gripping excitement of wrestling clinics with the comic stylings of Neil Hamburger has come to an end, at least for now. Volkmann announced earlier today via his Twitter that he has been cut by the UFC following his loss to promotional newcomer Bobby Green at UFC 156: 


(In an even stranger turn of events, it was revealed that Vollkmann was actually required by law to wear that shirt whenever he was within a half mile of a playground.) 

My God how the time flies. You might not have realized it — mainly because he is the type of fighter that screams “Facebook prelims” — but outspoken Minnesotan (new band name, called it) Jacob Volkmann has been fighting for the UFC for upwards of three years now, and has collected an impressive 6-4 record in the promotion. Outside of the octagon, Volkmann gained notoriety over the years for once threatening to rip off President Obama’s arm and subsequently receiving a visit from the Secret Service, an incident he would parlay into hundreds of thousands of tens of dollars in hideous, neon orange t-shirt sales.

But unfortunately for all of us Tea Party-supporting, lay-n-pray aficionados, Volkmann’s avant-garde experiment that dared combine the gripping excitement of wrestling clinics with the comic stylings of Neil Hamburger has come to an end, at least for now. Volkmann announced earlier today via his Twitter that he has been cut by the UFC following his loss to promotional newcomer Bobby Green at UFC 156: 

Volkmann’s loss at UFC 156 was his second in his past three fights. Combine that with Volkmann’s somewhat lackadaisical style and you’ve got yourself all the justification you need to send him adrift. However, ”Christmas” also stated on his Twitter account that the decision to cut him was that of Joe Silva’s, not Dana White’s, which means that Volkmann more than likely turned down a fight recently.

After starting his UFC career with a rocky 0-2 run in the welterweight division, Volkmann made the drop to lightweight in 2010 and put together five straight victories before getting caught in the patented Sassangle at UFC 146. Volkmann would rebound from the loss with his strongest octagon showing at UFC on FX 5, where he would score his only UFC finish by strangling WEC veteran Shane Roller inside of the first round.

Volkmann’s subsequent loss to Green at UFC 156 dropped him to 6-2 in the lightweight division. Meanwhile, Leonard Garcia still has a job despite losing his last 4 UFC contests. It just goes to show that “entertaining in defeat” will always trump “boring in victory” in the UFC. Not exactly a terrible business model if you ask us.

–J. Jones

And Now They’re Fired: Chad Griggs, Marcus Levesseur, and Many, Many More


(Griggs might not have had the best ground game in the biz, but he made up for it in pure funkatude.) 

It must be spring, Potato Nation, because in order to make room for their new batch of Strikeforce fighters, the UFC has been doing a little cleaning out of their roster as of late. In total, 9 fighters have been axed as of this morning, including everyone’s favorite muttonchops aficionado, Chad Griggs. MMA Opinion has the full list, so join us after the jump to find out which fighters will no longer be punctuating the undercards of FUEL and FX events.

Chad Griggs: 11-1 before entering the UFC, Griggs’ lack of a ground game was quickly exposed in his debut, where he was choked out by Travis Browne in under three minutes at UFC 145. After dropping to light heavyweight, Griggs returned at UFC 154 to face PRIDE veteran and feared striker Cyrille Diabate. Those who were expecting a slugfest left disappointed, however, as Griggs was choked out in the first round again, just 15 seconds later than his first fight.

Marcus LeVesseur: Despite being one of the more decorated wrestlers to enter the UFC in some time, “The Prospect” quickly showed that he was simply not well rounded enough to hang in the sport’s highest promotion. After dominating the beginning of his UFC debut against TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, LeVesseur became McKenzietine victim #11 at just over three minutes into the first round. After scoring a snoozer of split decision over Carlo Prater in his next fight, Levesseur was absolutely savaged by Abel Trujillo at UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz.


(Griggs might not have had the best ground game in the biz, but he made up for it in pure funkatude.) 

It must be spring, Potato Nation, because in order to make room for their new batch of Strikeforce fighters, the UFC has been doing a little cleaning out of their roster as of late. In total, 9 fighters have been axed as of this morning, including everyone’s favorite muttonchops aficionado, Chad Griggs. MMA Opinion has the full list, so join us after the jump to find out which fighters will no longer be punctuating the undercards of FUEL and FX events.

Chad Griggs: 11-1 before entering the UFC, Griggs’ lack of a ground game was quickly exposed in his debut, where he was choked out by Travis Browne in under three minutes at UFC 145. After dropping to light heavyweight, Griggs returned at UFC 154 to face PRIDE veteran and feared striker Cyrille Diabate. Those who were expecting a slugfest left disappointed, however, as Griggs was choked out in the first round again, just fifteen seconds later than his first fight.

Marcus LeVesseur: Despite being one of the more decorated wrestlers to enter the UFC in some time, “The Prospect” quickly showed that he was simply not well rounded enough to hang in the sport’s highest promotion. After dominating the beginning of his UFC debut against TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, LeVesseur became McKenzietine victim #11 at just over three minutes into the first round. After scoring a snoozer of split decision over Carlo Prater in his next fight, Levesseur was absolutely savaged by Abel Trujillo at UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz.

Joey Gambino: After getting sliced, diced, and eventually submitted by Steven Siler in his promotional debut at UFC on FX 4, Gambino was outpointed by TUF 14 winner Diego Brandao at UFC 153.

Jared Papazian: 0-3 in the octagon, followed up a majority decision loss to Mike Easton at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller with a submission loss to Dustin Pague at UFC on FX 3. He was given a final chance at the TUF 16 Finale, but was utterly dominated (30-25 x2, 30-26) by Tim Elliot in a performance that somehow netted both men a FOTN award.

Jeff Houghland: 1-2 in the promotion, with UD losses to Yves Jabouin and Takeya Mizugaki in successive contests.

Nick Penner: 0-2, with successive (T)KO losses to Anthony Perosh and Cody Donovan at UFC on FX 2 and UFC on FX 6, repectively.

John Cofer: The TUF 15 alum who was head kick KO’d by Justin Lawrence at the TUF 15 Finale last June before suffering an armbar defeat to Mike Rio at the TUF 16 Finale. 

Yasuhiro Urishitani: a.k.a the highly ranked flyweight who was blistered by Joseph Benavidez in the opening round of the flyweight tournament at UFC on FX 2, then outpointed by John Lineker at UFC on FUEL 6. 

Henry Martinez: 1-2 in the promotion, Martinez followed up a highly entertaining split decision loss to Matt Riddle at UFC 143 with a split decision win of his own at UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall. However, Martinez would find himself on the wrong end of a Daron Cruickshank highlight reel, walk-off KO at UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz. A sour note to end on, for sure.

–J. Jones

And Now He’s Fired: Luiz Cane Axed by the UFC Following Second Straight Loss at UFC 153


(It isn’t often that you can document the exact moment someone’s UFC career went to shit, yet here we are…) 

If you were to ask any knowledgeable fan of the sport circa 2008 what they thought of Luiz Cane, they would likely tell you that he was “one of the most underrated LHW’s in the division.” Following an unsuccessful UFC debut — which was halted when Cane accidentally struck James “Curse Watch” Irvin with an illegal knee — “Banha” absolutely blistered Jason Lambert and Rameau Sokoudjou in back-to-back contests, then scored a solid UD victory over Steve Cantwell to solidify his place as a rising contender. No, not the five fight losing streak Steve Cantwell, we’re talking about the Brian Stann TKOing, Al-Hassan arm-breaking Steve Cantwell. Cane’s chin appeared to be made of iron, platinum, unobtanium, or whatever element you’d prefer to compare it to, and combined with his solid takedown defense and devastating hands, looked to be on the fast track to a title shot.

But then, things fell apart (as they oft do in MMA) and Cane would quickly find himself fighting not just for a win, but to remain employed under the promotion in which he had once thrived.

It all started when Cane squared off against PRIDE veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 106.


(It isn’t often that you can document the exact moment someone’s UFC career went to shit, yet here we are…) 

If you were to ask any knowledgeable fan of the sport circa 2008 what they thought of Luiz Cane, they would likely tell you that he was “one of the most underrated LHW’s in the division.” Following an unsuccessful UFC debut — which was halted when Cane accidentally struck James “Curse Watch” Irvin with an illegal knee — “Banha” absolutely blistered Jason Lambert and Rameau Sokoudjou in back-to-back contests, then scored a solid UD victory over Steve Cantwell to solidify his place as a rising contender. No, not the five fight losing streak Steve Cantwell, we’re talking about the Brian Stann TKOing, Al-Hassan arm-breaking Steve Cantwell. Cane’s chin appeared to be made of iron, platinum, unobtanium, or whatever element you’d prefer to compare it to, and combined with his solid takedown defense and devastating hands, looked to be on the fast track to a title shot.

But then, things fell apart (as they oft do in MMA) and Cane would quickly find himself fighting not just for a win, but to remain employed under the promotion in which he had once thrived.

It all started when Cane squared off against PRIDE veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 106. You see, word had it that this “Minotoro” guy — who was making his UFC debut at the time — packed some power of his own. Word also had it that he had a brother who had been around the block a time or two. Despite this, many members of the MMA media were pegging Cane as the favorite, being that Rogerio and Cane had shared a similar opponent in Sokoudjou and one of them was KTFO by him. In either case, it took roughly two minutes for Lil’ Nog to throw enough left hooks to ensure that Cane would not only fall over, but would never truly pick himself back up. This kind of fighter-changing moment would be mirrored at the very next UFC pay-per-view event when Frank Mir would take a moderately entertaining kickboxer in Cheick Kongo and turn him into a lethargic, hesitant grappler for the rest of his career*.

For his next outing, Cane would be paired against another hard-hitting PRIDE veteran making his UFC debut in Cyrille Diabate. Although he managed to rock Diabate on at least one occasion this time out, just 17 seconds would be the only thing separating his second TKO loss from his first by the time this one was over.

After managing to end up on the right side of a first round TKO in his next outing against Elliot Marshall, Cane was given a golden opportunity to impress in front of his home country at UFC 134, where he would take on fellow slugger Stanislov Nedkov. It would not go well. Despite battering and bloodying his foe up early in the fight, you could almost see the hesitance in Cane’s eyes. “Bahna” would go down in the first (again) and Brazil would suffer its only loss to foreign competition that night. It was at this point that we placed Cane on our list of fighters we wished were better than they actually were, hoping it would provide the spark of motivation that he seemed to be missing.

For his final shot at redemption, Cane faced TUF 11 alum Chris Camozzi at UFC 153. It was a match that he was favored to win, due in part to the fact that Camozzi lacked the kind of KO power that had given Cane trouble in the past. Yet in the end, Cane would find himself swinging at air for the majority of the three round affair and eating a hellstorm of leg kicks and crisp combos to boot. According to Cane’s manager, the Brazilian’s sluggishness could be attributed to the pair of surgeries he was forced to undergo and the fact that he took the fight against doctor’s orders:

[Cain] comes from two knee surgeries. At first, the doctor made a mistake and he had to have another. To compete at that level, with a lot of athletes, it’s hard. He made a great fight.

He’ll keep fighting, and hope to be back soon to the UFC. People have to understand that being cut from the UFC is not a disaster. Once you’ve got a name in the UFC, things get easier for a comeback. Every athlete is likely to have that phase. Soon he wins and returns to the Ultimate.

The question now becomes: What occupation should Cain moonlight in now that he’s been fired?

*Kongo’s Hail Mary KO of Pat Barry, while remarkable, does not change this fact. One fluke KO does not compensate for his abysmal performances against Travis Browne, Paul Buentello, Matt Mitrione, and Shawn Jordan. 

–J. Jones

Damned If You Don’t: Rich Attonito Fired by UFC for Backing Out of Gunnar Nelson Fight


(He beat the crap out of Jamie Yager, so he’ll always be a legend in our book. Photo props: Justin M. Bowen/ Las Vegas Sun)

When UFC matchmaker Joe Silva calls you to fight on short notice as an injury replacement, sometimes it’s better to not even answer the phone. That’s the lesson we’ve learned from a contradictory pair of recent firings that seem to define the phrase “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

As confirmed by MMAFighting.com, welterweight contender (and former CagePotato guest-blogger) Rich Attonito has been released by the UFC. Attonito had an official record of 3-2 within the Octagon, and last competed at UFC 140 in December 2011, where he was TKO’d by Jake Hecht. Here’s the sequence of events that led to Rich’s firing, from the MMAFighting report:

When [Pascal] Krauss pulled out of UFC on FUEL TV 5, [Joe] Silva offered Rich Attonito the fight against [Gunnar] Nelson via Attonito’s manager Dan Lambert. Lambert spoke to the American Top Team fighter, who agreed to take the welterweight bout. The next day, Lambert called Silva to tell him Attonito said he would not be able to make the 170-pound weight limit on short notice. Silva then offered him the opportunity to take the fight at a 175-pound catch weight, which both Attonito and Nelson, through his manager and father Haraldur Nelson, agreed to. The next day, Lambert called Silva back again to inform him that Attonito would not be able to make the 175-pound catch weight either. As a result, Silva decided to release Attonito from his contract.

Here’s the deal: When the UFC offers you an opportunity to come in as a replacement fighter, you generally don’t get a day or two to think about it. Attonito’s crime was speaking too soon — agreeing to a fight before he realized that making weight would be impossible. But at the time the fight was offered to him, saying “no” to Joe Silva probably seemed like the bigger sin.

Anyway, Attonito changed his mind and got fired for it. And you probably remember what happened next…


(He beat the crap out of Jamie Yager, so he’ll always be a legend in our book. Photo props: Justin M. Bowen/ Las Vegas Sun)

When UFC matchmaker Joe Silva calls you to fight on short notice as an injury replacement, sometimes it’s better to not even answer the phone. That’s the lesson we’ve learned from a contradictory pair of recent firings that seem to define the phrase “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

As confirmed by MMAFighting.com, welterweight contender (and former CagePotato guest-blogger) Rich Attonito has been released by the UFC. Attonito had an official record of 3-2 within the Octagon, and last competed at UFC 140 in December 2011, where he was TKO’d by Jake Hecht. Here’s the sequence of events that led to Rich’s firing, from the MMAFighting report:

When [Pascal] Krauss pulled out of UFC on FUEL TV 5, [Joe] Silva offered Rich Attonito the fight against [Gunnar] Nelson via Attonito’s manager Dan Lambert. Lambert spoke to the American Top Team fighter, who agreed to take the welterweight bout. The next day, Lambert called Silva to tell him Attonito said he would not be able to make the 170-pound weight limit on short notice. Silva then offered him the opportunity to take the fight at a 175-pound catch weight, which both Attonito and Nelson, through his manager and father Haraldur Nelson, agreed to. The next day, Lambert called Silva back again to inform him that Attonito would not be able to make the 175-pound catch weight either. As a result, Silva decided to release Attonito from his contract.

Here’s the deal: When the UFC offers you an opportunity to come in as a replacement fighter, you generally don’t get a day or two to think about it. Attonito’s crime was speaking too soon — agreeing to a fight before he realized that making weight would be impossible. But at the time the fight was offered to him, saying “no” to Joe Silva probably seemed like the bigger sin.

Anyway, Attonito changed his mind and got fired for it. And you probably remember what happened next…

DaMarques Johnson was then offered (and accepted) the fight against Nelson, and as we previously told you, he was swiftly cut by the UFC following his first-round submission loss. We figured it was because he missed the 175-pound catchweight by a full eight pounds, and we weren’t wrong. Here’s what Joe Silva had to say about it:

“I thought it was incredibly unfair to Gunnar Nelson to fight someone that much larger than him,” Silva said. “Johnson told me he could make the weight. He’s not doing me a favor if he missed weight because I could have gotten someone else who would have made the weight. I never pressure anyone to take late notice fights. I got a bunch of guys who want to fight. If one says no, I will find someone else. No problem.”

So in other words, don’t accept a short-notice fight unless you’re 100% certain you can make the weight, at the moment the fight is offered to you. Otherwise, you could be fired if you take the fight, or if you end up not taking the fight. And as Ben Fowlkes points out in his latest MMAJunkie mailbag column: “If the UFC has ‘a bunch of guys who want to fight,’ why was Johnson, whose medical suspension ended less than two weeks before the Nelson fight, No. 2 on the list of possible replacements?…[The UFC] should have known that Johnson – who’d been medically suspended for 45 of the 56 days between his knockout loss to Mike Swick and his submission loss to Nelson – might not have been in tip-top fighting shape just then.”

With so many UFC fighters getting injured lately, Joe Silva has had to scrape the bottom of the matchmaking barrel to find warm bodies. That’s what led him to DaMarques Johnson, who simply would not have been an option under ideal circumstances. The truth is, Johnson was doing Joe Silva a favor by saying “yes” to the Nelson fight. And that favor was repaid with a pink slip. Let that be a message to the UFC fighters who want to improve their standing in the promotion by taking short-notice fights that are against their best interests: Just say no.

And Now They’re Fired: DaMarques Johnson, Shane Roller Axed From UFC After Recent Losses


(Johnson secures a dominant position against Mike Swick at UFC on FOX 4, shortly before it all fell apart.)

After suffering his third-straight stoppage loss against newcomer Gunnar Nelson at UFC on FUEL 5: Struve vs. Miocic, UFC welterweight DaMarques Johnson has been released by the promotion. Johnson confirmed the news via Twitter late last night. “And the hits keep on coming,” Darkness wrote. “No longer a UFC fighter.”

The TUF 9 finalist complied an official record of 4-6 within the Octagon, with none of those fights going to decision — a stat that placed him in a first-place tie on the “Least Decision-Prone UFC Fighters of All Time” leaderboard. His most recent fight was somewhat controversial in that it came just 56 days after a brutal knockout loss to Mike Swick. Johnson faced Gunnar Nelson on short notice as an injury replacement, and while the UFC usually gives extra leeway to fighters who step up to save fights, the fact that Johnson didn’t even come close to making weight likely sealed his fate.

In other firing news…


(Johnson secures a dominant position against Mike Swick at UFC on FOX 4, shortly before it all fell apart.)

After suffering his third-straight stoppage loss against newcomer Gunnar Nelson at UFC on FUEL 5: Struve vs. Miocic, UFC welterweight DaMarques Johnson has been released by the promotion. Johnson confirmed the news via Twitter late last night. “And the hits keep on coming,” Darkness wrote. “No longer a UFC fighter.”

The TUF 9 finalist complied an official record of 4-6 within the Octagon, with none of those fights going to decision — a stat that placed him in a first-place tie on the “Least Decision-Prone UFC Fighters of All Time” leaderboard. His most recent fight was somewhat controversial in that it came just 56 days after a brutal knockout loss to Mike Swick. Johnson faced Gunnar Nelson on short notice as an injury replacement, and while the UFC usually gives extra leeway to fighters who step up to save fights, the fact that Johnson didn’t even come close to making weight likely sealed his fate.

In other firing news…

UFC lightweight Shane Roller also confirmed his release — and apparent retirement — on Twitter, writing “Looks like I’m hanging up the gloves for good. It was fun, but time to move on. Sux that it ended like that. Now startn the next chapter!!”

Roller competed on the preliminary card of last weekend’s Browne vs. Bigfoot card, and lost to Jacob Volkmann via first-round neck crank. It was Roller’s fourth loss in his last five fights, and Volkmann’s first stoppage victory in nine UFC appearances; neither of those details would suggest future employment for Shane Roller. On the bright side, now there’s more space on the UFC lightweight roster for Gilbert Melendez. See? We always try to find the positive around here.