As a new season of Dana White’s Contender Series approaches, the UFC is doing a bit of house cleaning.
On August 13, DWCS will kick off as 100 fighters vie for their opportunity at a UFC contract. Unfortunately, that also means that the promotion must make some room for the new influx of talent.
Following the events of UFC 304, the promotion has released seven fights according to UFC Roster Tracker, including:
- Emily Ducote
- Miguel Baeza
- Muhammad Mokaev
- Lucie Pudilova
- Josh Quinlan
- Sergey Morozov
- Mariya Agapova
All of the above-listed fighters were reportedly handed their release between July 29-31.
Perhaps the most shocking release was Muhammad Mokaev, an undefeated title contender who secured his seventh-straight win inside the Octagon against Manel Kape in Manchester. Mokaev went into the final fight of his contract hoping an impressive performance would secure him a new contract. Instead, ‘The Punisher’ delivered another uninspired, albeit successful showing, prompting Dana White to send him packing.
During the UFC 304 post-fight press conference, White confirmed that Mokaev would not be re-signed, suggesting that the promotion’s matchmakers were simply tired of dealing with the Dagestani-born scrapper.
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Latest Crop of UFC Releases Should Come as No Surprise
While a majority of the fighters released were sitting on sizeable losing skids, Sergey Morozov went 3-2 inside the Octagon and was sitting on back-to-back wins against Raulian Paiva and Journey Newson, though his last appearance came all the way back in December 2022.
Mariya Agapova’s three-fight losing skid aside, it’s no surprise that the promotion opted to release her after she ripped apart Mick Maynard, the UFC’s Senior VP of Talent Relations, on social for not getting her a fight.
After blaming the organization for her financial turmoil in an emotional Instagram post, the ‘Demonslayer’ later admitted that she had reconstructive surgery on her knee and was struggling to obtain a green card.
Agapova’s UFC run started promising enough with her coming out on top in two of her first three appearances, besting Hannah Cifers and Sabino Mazo. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to maintain her momentum, losing three in a row against Maryna Moroz, Gillian Robertson, and Luana Santos—all via submission.
With her Octagon career now behind her, Agapova announced plans to make a pro boxing run.
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