The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was on Long Island, New York for the first time in promotional history last Saturday (July 22, 2017) with UFC on FOX 25: Weidman vs. Gastelum. It was an exciting night of scraps that saw five of 13 bouts end inside the distance, and with the action now in our rear view, let’s take a look at which of the evening’s competitors we may no longer see going to work inside the Octagon…
ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
Damian Grabowski
Grabowski was on a two-fight skid in the UFC — losing both fights by first-round knockout at the hands of Derrick Lewis and Anthony Hamilton — heading into this event. And in his effort to pick up his first Octagon victory, he took on Chase Sherman and lost that bout by unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards after three one-sided rounds. After losing three straight fights now, I think is is more than likely that we have seen the last of this Pole inside the Octagon, although it would not completely shock me to see him on the UFC’s upcoming fight card in Poland.
Frankie Perez
The New Jersey native made his UFC debut in January of 2015, when he took on Johnny Case and lost via third-round TKO in what was largely a one-sided matchup in favor of his opponent. Following the defeat, he returned to the Octagon that summer and knocked out veteran Sam Stout in the first round of action. After that victory, he announced his retirement from the sport. Just over a year later, he returned to the Octagon and took on undefeated prospect Marc Diakiese and lost that bout via unanimous decision. In an effort to return to the win column this past Saturday, Perez faced Chris Wade in a rematch and lost the bout by unanimous decision as well, putting him on a two-fight skid and dropping him to 1-3 in the UFC. This matchup had a “loser goes home” feel to me, so I think there is a good chance that Perez will be receiving his walking papers from the promotion. However, I would not be surprised to see him get one last crack.
