UFC RELEASES SEVERAL FLYWEIGHTS INCLUDING DUSTIN ORTIZ

Heading into 2019, we all figured there was a good possibility the UFC flyweight division was on its last legs. However, when Henry Cejudo knocked out TJ Dillashaw in the initial round of the bout at UFC Fight Night 143, we believed there was a chance the branch could be saved, especially since the UFC announced a couple of different fights at 125lbs for other occasions.
It looks like that might not be the case, since the marketing has allegedly released several different flyweights.
In accordance with Cejudo, who spoke to the media this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 144, the UFC has launched top-ranked flyweights Dustin Ortiz and Matheus Nicolau. In addition, John Moraga was eliminated from the UFC’s official rankings, indicating he also has been published. The UFC hasn’t yet commented on if these fighters have really officially been published, but normally it’s around the fighters to inform the fans and media when that occurs. Almost anytime somebody has been removed from the positions for unknown reasons, though, it’s usually because the UFC released them.
Though the UFC flyweight division is obviously on its way out, the decision to cut a quality fighter such as Ortiz is downright shocking, and dare I say, dumb. Ortiz is coming from a competitive unanimous decision loss to Joseph Benavidez at UFC Fight Night 143 which was clearly one of the better fights on that card. There is an opportunity Benavidez understands the next crack at Cejudo’s belt, meaning that the UFC simply cut Ortiz coming from a title eliminator. And before this Benavidez struggle, Ortiz had won three consecutive fights, such as a mind kick knockout within the aforementioned Nicolau, a decision win over Alexandre Pantoja — a gifted flyweight who it seems was spared from the cuts so much — and a 15-second KO over Hector Sandoval which was the fastest knockout in UFC flyweight history. If anything, the UFC should have told Ortiz to maneuver up to bantamweight, which Alex Perez seemingly is going to do (in addition to fighters such as Said Nurmagomedov). Releasing such a talented and improved fighter such as Ortiz outright just seems absurd.
As for Nicolau, he had won all three of his battles in the Octagon before losing to Ortiz, and even though he didn’t seem to be a title contender, he still provided valuable depth at 125lbs. He additionally holds a notable triumph over Moraga, who it seems has also got the boot. That’s just another cut that shocks me. Moraga was really among the first flyweights the UFC signed back in 2012, and although he had an up-and-down UFC career, he was considered to be a good gatekeeper and the ideal test for up-and-comers to take on. In his last battle, he had been knocked out by Deiveson Figueiredo, who appears to be among the couple flyweights the UFC nevertheless has to the roster. There’s no reason Moraga could not have stuck around and continued to behave in a gatekeeper role. It just seems overly harsh to cut a man who had been one of the few fighters with completing possible in a division that generally sees fights go the distance.
At this point, it is very bizarre what the UFC is performing together with the flyweights. If you inquire UFC president Dana White, he says the promotion hasn’t made a determination on the branch, but it seems like every day we are seeing a flyweight get cut, then the next day we see that a flyweight fight reserved. It would be nice if the UFC could create its mind and cut all the flyweights or maintain a complete branch, because right now the fighters have no idea what type of job security they have going ahead, and that is not fair to anybody.
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