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And Now He’s Fired: Kendall Grove

Just think of the captions that a lesser journalist would come up with. Seriously, just think it this time.

You had to see this one coming. Three weeks out from his unanimous decision defeat to Tim Boetsch at UFC 130, the UFC has decided to part ways with TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove. After defeating Ed Herman to win The Ultimate Fighter 3 back in 2006, Grove has gone 6-6 in the UFC, including losses to Patrick Cote, Mark Munoz and Demian Maia. Aside from Ed Herman, the only fighter that Kendall Grove holds a win over who is still fighting in the UFC is Alan Belcher, who he defeated by D’Arce choke back at UFC 69 in April of 2007.

Just think of the captions that a lesser journalist would come up with. Seriously, just think it this time.

Kendall Grove is the third winner of The Ultimate Fighter to get fired by the UFC, joining the likes of Travis Lutter and Efrain Escudero. Interestingly enough, Grove is the first TUF winner to be released from the UFC simply due to poor performance. Escudero was released by the UFC after missing weight by four pounds before his loss to Charles Oliveira. Meanwhile, Travis Lutter was released by the UFC after, well…being Travis Lutter. Not to mention any names, but some fighters should take this firing as a wakeup call: Winning The Ultimate Fighter does not guarantee job security.

And Now They’re Fired, Too: Brandon Vera and Marcus Davis

(Above: Brandon Vera gets smashed up by Jon Jones in March. Below: Marcus Davis does his best Abobo impression during his fight with Nate Diaz.)
It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. After Phil Baroni and Antonio McKee lost their jobs, there was …

Brandon Vera Jon Jones UFC MMA photos
(Above: Brandon Vera gets smashed up by Jon Jones in March. Below: Marcus Davis does his best Abobo impression during his fight with Nate Diaz.)

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. After Phil Baroni and Antonio McKee lost their jobs, there was no way that the axe wasn’t going to drop again on UFC 125‘s other repeat-losers. Here’s the latest…

Brandon Vera: The Truth has been released from his UFC contract after his shutout decision loss to Thiago Silva, which represented Vera’s third consecutive defeat, and sixth loss in his last nine outings. Due to the nasty broken nose he suffered last weekend, Vera won’t be able to compete anywhere until March 3rd at the earliest.

Marcus Davis: The Irish Hand Grenade has also been bounced out of the Octagon. Davis’s knockout loss against Jeremy Stephens was his fifth loss in his last eight attempts, and second-straight defeat by stoppage. The TUF 2 vet was hoping to re-invent himself as a lightweight, and had controlled Stephens in the first two rounds before having his lights put out in the third. Davis is one of only eight UFC fighters who have earned five or more performance bonuses.

Instead of piling on the abuse, let’s remember Vera and Davis for the dangerous, exciting fighters they used to be before their luck abruptly ran out. Video proof is after the jump…

And Now He’s Fired: Antonio ‘Mandingo’ McKee

(Oh boy. This is really going to affect his position as "baddest N-word on the planet." / Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
“I feel like I’m the Muhammad Ali of MMA. I feel like I’m the Don King of MMA. I feel like I’m the …

(Oh boy. This is really going to affect his position as "baddest N-word on the planet." / Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

“I feel like I’m the Muhammad Ali of MMA. I feel like I’m the Don King of MMA. I feel like I’m the Tupac Shakur of MMA. I’m the mouth, the talent, the brains, and I’m also the business side. Where does that put me? That puts me as one of the all-time greatest black mixed martial arts fighters.” — Antonio McKee

"I feel sad for the opponents, you know? I hope maybe they’ll just let me submit them, because I really don’t want to hurt them. What are they going to do, stop me from taking them down? Stop me from ground-and-pounding them? Stop me from hitting them with the elbows? Come on, you serious?" — Antonio McKee

"GSP needs to be compared to *me*." — Antonio McKee

"You’re fucking fired." — Dana White

And Now He’s Fired: Phil Baroni

(The record shows he took the blows / and did it hiiiiiiiis waaaaaaaay. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
After suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Brad Tavares at UFC 125 — his second-consecutive loss since returning to the UFC in N…

(The record shows he took the blows / and did it hiiiiiiiis waaaaaaaay. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

After suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Brad Tavares at UFC 125 — his second-consecutive loss since returning to the UFC in November 2009, and his third-straight loss overall — it appears that Phil Baroni‘s latest stint in the UFC has officially ended. Versus’s MMA Beat passed along confirmation of his release last night. The firing was no surprise to Baroni, who intends to stay very active in 2011 and work his way back to the big leagues.

The 34-year-old currently holds an MMA record of 13-13, with a 3-7 lifetime record in the UFC. Baroni hasn’t tasted victory in the Octagon since declaring himself "the man" after storming Dave Menne at UFC 39 in September 2002. Tough break for the NYBA, but maybe we’ll finally get to see that rubber match with Minowaman.

Semi-related: Matt Brown, who has lost his last three fights in the UFC, all by second-round submission, is reportedly getting another shot against British welterweight Mark Scanlon (7-1, 0-1 UFC) at UFC on Versus 3 in March. Go figure.

Thanksgiving UFC News Dump: Bookings, Replacements, Firings + More

("COME AT ME, BRO!")
Happy Thanksgiving, Potato Nation! If you’re reading this right now, you should probably consider disconnecting from the Internet and spending time with your family. If you came here to escape those horrible people, bro…

("COME AT ME, BRO!")

Happy Thanksgiving, Potato Nation! If you’re reading this right now, you should probably consider disconnecting from the Internet and spending time with your family. If you came here to escape those horrible people, brother we can relate. (*Pours another glass of scotch*) Let us know what you’re thankful for in the comments section, and keep up-to-date with this grab-bag of UFC headlines…

– Replacing the unfortunately injured Jose Aldo at UFC 125 against Josh Grispi will be Dustin Poirier, an 8-1 featherweight prospect who just knocked out Zach Micklewright in 53 seconds earlier this month at WEC 52: Faber vs. Mizugaki. Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann will now be the event’s co-headliner, in support of the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard lightweight title fight.

– Coming off an ugly knockout loss against George Roop at WEC 51, "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung has his win-or-go-home fight booked, as he’ll be taking on Rani Yahya at Fight for the Troops 2 on January 22nd. It’ll be the only fight on the card where you won’t be able to chant "U!S!A!" in support of at least one of the fighters. Expect a lot of fans in the arena to make trips to the bathroom.

And Now He’s Fired: Gerald Harris (Wait, What the Fck? Seriously*?)

(Remember to include "proficient in jabbing" on your resume. / Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
UFC middleweight contender Gerald Harris confirmed last night that he has been released by the UFC following his decision loss to Maiquel Falcao at UF…

(Remember to include "proficient in jabbing" on your resume. / Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

UFC middleweight contender Gerald Harris confirmed last night that he has been released by the UFC following his decision loss to Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123. Yes, Gerald Harris, the SportsCenter highlight-maker and all-around nice guy, who had come into the fight with a 3-0 Octagon record and two Knockout of the Night bonuses under his belt. Even considering how lackluster his fight last weekend turned out, this has to be the most unexpected UFC firing in recent memory. Is the UFC so dead-set on trimming their roster with the influx of WEC talent that they’ll bounce a rising star for one bad showing? Maybe. But get this…