Only man to defeat Deiveson Figueiredo, Jussier Formiga released from the UFC
Jussier Formiga is no longer a UFC fighter.
MMAFighting was the first to report the news that Formiga got his walking papers.
The Brazilian is on a three-fight losing skid stretching from 2019 to 2020. During the run, he suffered TKO losses to Alex Perez and Joseph Benavidez. He also dropped a decision to Brandon Moreno. However, Formiga is the only man to beat current flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, back in March of 2019.
In the fight against Figueiredo, Formiga used his wrestling to dominate the fight and win all three rounds on one judge’s scorecard and 29-28 on the other two. In his UFC tenure, the 35-year-old went 9-7 with notable wins over Figueiredo, Sergio Pettis, Ben Nguyen, and Wilson Reis. He also fought Henry Cejudo to a split decision. Had he beat Benavidez in June of 2019 he likely would’ve gotten a title shot.
Now that he is released, Formiga no doubt has options for his next home. He could move up to 135-pounds and sign with Bellator, or perhaps he goes to ONE Championship to take on Demetrious Johnson. Even going to RIZIN to fight the likes of Kyoji Horiguchi or Kai Asakura makes a lot of sense. Regardless, if the Brazilian wants to continue his career he will likely have options in free agency.
Jussier Formiga is also just the latest fighter to be released. Given Dana White and the UFC hand out a couple of contracts a week on the Contender Series, they need to create room on the roster. However, it is somewhat surprising to see Formiga be released. He does have a win over the current champion and was ranked in the top-10 before he got his walking papers. The Brazilian only fought killers and could’ve been used to elevate another younger fighter. But, the UFC saw enough to let him go and enter free agency.
