The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to Nashville, TN last night (August 8, 2015) for the third time in promotional history for UFC Fight Night 73: Teixeira vs Saint Preux. Now, following the night of action in Tennessee, let’s take a look at which of the competitors of the evening who we may no longer see inside the Octagon… ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK Tom Watson “Kong” is now 2-5 inside the Octagon with two straight defeats and I expect he will shortly be receiving his walking papers from the promotion following last night’s unanimous decision loss to Chris Camozzi. He has appeared to be on a decline as of late, and making the switch in training camps over to the Blackzilian’s in Boca Raton, FL did not benefit him against Camozzi. I considered Watson vs Camozzi to be a “loser goes home” match-up going in, and now I expect that Watson will be sent packing. Bellator or Cage Warriors may be in his future, and should he be released, I do not see him making his way back to the big show. Roman Salazar Salazar made his promotional debut against Mitch Gagnon and was submitted quickly by the French-Canadian via rear naked choke in the very first round of action. Following the defeat, he quit his job as a cable guy and concentrated on fighting full time, starting training at the famed TriStar Gym in Montreal. Salazar returned for his next outing earlier this year to take on the veteran “Kid” Yamamoto. He appeared to be en route to losing a decision to Yamamoto, however an eye poke in the second round rendered him unable to continue, and the bout was ultimately ruled a No Contest. Salazar’s next and latest outing came at last night’s UFC Fight Night 73 in Nashville, where he was submitted by Ecuadorian prospect Marlon Vera in the second stanza. Now 0-2-1 NC in the UFC, I think there is a fairly good chance we have seen the last of Salazar inside the Octagon. Anthony Christodoulou The Greek is now 0-2 inside the Octagon, having been dominated and finished in both outings. First, he was knocked out by Mairbek Taisumov in the second round, then he was submitted by Scott Holtzman in the third round at last night’s UFC Fight Night 73 in Nashville. I think it is safe to say that Christodoulou is not a UFC-caliber athlete and my guess is that he was brought in to the promotion to be fed to wolves like Taisumov and Holtzman. Now, unless the UFC has another 155-pounder they want to give a highlight-reel victory to, I expect they will be releasing Christodoulou from the promotion.
