(Photos:Sherdog.com)

The UFC brass are showing finishing power that matches Anderson Silva or Chuck Liddell in terms of ending fighter’s dreams quickly. It seems that the UFC is serious about trimming the fat on their fighter roster.  There have been widespread reports of dropping a lot of fighters and recent victims to substantiate those rumors include Travis Lutter, Joe Doerksen, Charles McCarthy and Kalib Starnes.
The cuts have extended to a new level with a Fight Network announcement that the UFC has dropped Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Din Thomas and Tommy Speer.

Hironaka has a losing record of 1-2 in the organization. He debuted a year ago with a win over Forrest Petz and then dropped  fights to Welterweight up an comer Thiago Alves and the always dangerous Jonathan Goulet. Not the best record in the UFC, but not exactly losing to complete chumps.
Din Thomas was a much bigger surprise, having appeared in 9 career UFC events dating back to 2001.  His overall UFC record is 5-4 having faced elite fighters in losses BJ Penn and Caol Uno and more recently, Kenny Florian.  His win column has some decent names, with victories over the surging Rich Clementi, fan favorite grinder Clay Guida and recently dethroned comeback Champion Matt Serra.
Tommy Speer rounded out the list, being dropped after only two losing efforts in the octagon, including his TUF 6 Finale blowout loss to Mac Danzig.  More recently, Speer was quickly dispatched by a power punching Anthony Johnson and left in a crumpled heap against the Octagon fence.

It seems that anyone with a two fight losing streak is subject to dismissal these days.  I can imagine the excel spreadsheet with the fighter’s names and having to go through them in the clean-up process.  Not fun and fighters with a lot of talent and potential are feeling the pain this week.  You can bet that there will be more to come in the next few weeks.

 (Photo:Sherdog.com)

Spencer “The King” Fisher will look to get back to his winning ways when he make his return to the Octagon on June 21st. Fisher is scheduled to appear on The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale card at the Pearl at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.  His opponent will be the always game Jeremy Stephens which should make for an interesting Lightweight showdown. 

 Fisher is coming back from a unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar late last year while Stephens is looking to extend a hot streak to 3 consecutive victories in the UFC Octagon.  Stephens debuted in the UFC against veteran Din Thomas and held his own until getting caught in a deep arm-bar that left no options for escape.  Both fighter’s like to strike, although Fisher would likely have an edge on the feet.  His striking against Sam Stout in their rematch was among the quickest and sharpest I can recall seeing in the UFC period.

While Fisher has been viewed as a possible contender due to experience and some great performances, his exposure by a strong wrestling game was made very clear in his bout against Edgar.  But then Edgar was absolutely bullied on the ground by a much bigger Gray Maynard in his last effort, which doesn’t make Fisher’s defeat to Edgar look any better on his resume.  It has the potential to hurt his reputation as a real contender, which maybe it should.

The Fight is scheduled to be on the main card of what should be a ”free” Spike-TV event on June 21st, currently sharing the stage with veteran fighters Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti and  Kendall Grove Vs. Evan Tanner. One of the best bouts of the night is a scheduled match between super veteran Jeremy Horn Vs Dean Lister, which should be a ground fighting clinic for those that enjoy submissions and ground control .

The fights will be airing “free” on Spike TV on June 21st.  Check them out, the card is looking pretty good already,  

 (Photo:Sherdog.com)

Josh Neer is making his return to the UFC on April 2nd in Ultimate Fight Night ‘Florian Vs Lauzon’.  The fight will be his first in the UFC since mid 2006, but don’t expect ring rust to be an issue. Neer has been active in other organizations since leaving the UFC with a losing 2-3 record , winning 6 of his last 7 fights while taking “a vacation” from the big show.   Neer has the true essence of a fighter and a ‘do whatever it takes’ approach to winning that is more heart than science in the Octagon.  So what has changed for Neer that will make this venture in the UFC more of a success?

For starters, Neer has dropped a weight class and is now competing at 155 pounds, where he was grinding it out as a relatively small Welterweight in his last tour of duty.  As every fighter and most fans know, in the MMA world, the larger fighter has a solid advantage… and it is the basis for the weight cutting methodology that is core to the sport.  In addition, the confidence of going on solid winning streaks in smaller shows should be enough to get ‘The Dentist’ in a winning frame of mind.  That mindset can’t be underestimated when competing at the elite level of the sport. 

In a UFC.com interview, Neer admits that he wasn’t in the proper state mentally during some of his prior UFC bouts;

“Mentally, I wasn’t into those fights,” said Neer of his last two UFC losses. (Josh Burkman and Nick Diaz) “Those guys are both tough and mentally I was drained. It seemed like when I was fighting in the UFC, I fought, and after I won everything was great. Then you turn around and a month later, I’ve got another fight. It’s just tough competition every time.”

 Hopefully Neer can make a run in the Lightweight division.  He is an exciting fighter to watch, mostly because he lets it all hang out and has that never quit attitude. Find a copy of his fight against Melvin Guillard if you want some proof.   Fans see him on a fight card and they simply know that they are getting great value for their ticket money. 

 His first fight back in the UFC is against another solid fighter in Din Thomas.  Thomas will bring his “A” game and will be looking to redeem himself after a loss to Kenny Florian where he suffered a knee injury en-route to a first round loss. No matter how much game Thomas brings to the Octagon on April 2nd, it won’t be an easy night…no-one enjoys a trip to see The Dentist.  

?

In a recent post by Sam Caplan at Fiveouncesofpain.com, it appears that the UFC has announced it’s decision to suspend Renato “Babalu” Sobral’s current contract.? The news is fallout from Babalu’s most recent fight on Aug. 25th (UFC 74) where he admitted to intentionally holding a choke on his opponent David Heath after he knew the fighter had tapped.

Criticism regarding Sobral’s actions was widespread in the media and among fighters, so it is no surprise that the UFC would take some action in addition to the cash penalty imposed by the NSAC while the fight was under review.? This is not the first time that a fighter has held a choke longer than what seemed appropriate, or that a fighter was struck several times after clearly losing consciousness… but it is the first time that a fighter has made the mistake of admitting intention in the aftermath.

?The post continues to state that the UFC was not washing their hands of Sobral forever, which is probably a good move, as he is, in my opinion, a talented fighter who simply made a (really) bad decision.? Hopefully this public ostracising will lead to a period of intense introspection and new found focus for Babalu…. or at the very least, let’s hope he learns how to tell a lie.