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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 20: A general view of the Octagon during Dana White's Contender Series season three week nine at the UFC Apex on August 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/DWCS LLC/Zuffa LLC)

UFC releases nine fighters from their roster

UFC fighters continue to get cut. Today the roster is now shorter by nine names after the promotion announced the departure of several athletes.

Ali Alqaisi, Cyril Asker, Alex Chambers, Chris de la Rocha, Syuri Kondo, Bojan Mihajlovic, Suman Mokhtarian and Dmitriy Sosnovskiy. Aleksandra Albu is also out of the company after completing her four-fight deal.

MMA Junkie was first to report the news of the UFC releasing the fighters.

Albu (3-2) signed with the promotion in 2015 after only having one professional fight. She posted wins over Izabela Badurek and Kailin Curran before dropping fights to Emily Whitmire and Loma Lookboonmee. Chambers (5-5), who was also cut, holds a win over Curran which marked her only UFC victory in five appearances.

Meanwhile, Alqaisi (8-5), Mihajlovic (10-6) and Mokhtarian (8-2) went winless under the promotional banner, while de la Rocha (5-3) and Kondo (6-3) won one fight in four appearances.

Askar (9-4) recorded two UFC victories, but she was also on the losing end of three fights inside of the octagon.

Sosnovskiy’s cut came as a bit of surprise as he is undefeated in his professional career. Right now he is 11-0 and he won his octagon debut over Mark Godbeer in 2018. However, he faces legal problems as he reportedly was arrested in Moscow on abduction and extortion charges in late 2019.

These cuts come a few months after UFC president Dana White announced that the UFC would be making a number of cuts to their roster. Perhaps the biggest name cut to date is former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero, who signed with Bellator after being released.

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John Eric Poli