The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was in Albany, NY for the first time in promotional history with UFC Fight Night 102: Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov. The solid night of fights saw 50 percent of them end inside the distance. Following the action, let’s take alook at which of the evening’s competitors we may no longer see going to work inside the Octagon… ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK Sean O’Connell “The Real OC” started his UFC career off with a pair of losses but bounced back with a pair of T/KO wins. Since then, however, he has dropped three in a row, one of them being a controversial unanimous-decision loss to Steve Bosse. Coming off two losses, he took on the biggest test of his professional mixed martial arts career at UFC Fight Night 102 this past Friday night in Albany, where he took on TUF 18 winner Corey Anderson and lost the bout via TKO in the second round of action. Personally, I think O’Connell deserves another shot, because he shows up to battle every time he steps foot in the Octagon, plus I think he beat Bosse in his previous bout. I think it is slightly more likely that the promotion opts to part ways with the Utah-based fighter, but I hope to see him back for one more. Joe Gigliotti Gigliotti made his promotional debut against Strikeforce veteran Trevor Smith earlier this year, losing the bout via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. After getting his first taste of professional mixed martial arts defeat, he returned to the Octagon this past Friday night to take on UFC newcomer Gerald Meerschaert. Unfortunately, he lost that bout via first-round anaconda-choke submission and is now on an 0-2 skid inside the Octagon. I think it is now 50/50 as to whether the UFC decides to part ways with him or not, but if they keep him around, I think Gigliotti’s next appearance inside the Octagon should and would be in the welterweight division, as he is too small for middleweight. I think both of his UFC bouts have proved that.
