UFC Fight Night 45 was live from Atlantic City, NJ last night (July 16th) with an 11-fight card and produced an incredible night of scraps from start to finish. With the great evening fights now behind us, let’s take a look at which UFC Fight Night 45we may no longer see compete inside the Octagon… ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: Cody Donovan Donovan has now been knocked out in three consecutive bouts and will almost certainly be released following this three fight skid. After knocking out Nick Penner in his promotional debut in impressive, come-from-behind fashion, his cardio and chin have cost him his next three outings. My best guess is that he will sign with Bellator, and I would be surprised to see him ever return to the Octagon, as I think he would probably end up getting released from Bellator, too. I don’t believe Donovan is a fighter with much work ethic. Being a fighter who trains in high-altitude and gasses within a couple of minutes in all his fights speaks volumes for his work ethic, in my opinion. If you ask me, his performances certainly do not reflect hard work in the gym, and I think the UFC brass may have taken notice of that, too. I expect Donovan to be released shortly, but all things MMA aside, I do wish him the best, as I think he’s a pretty good guy, and always brings it every time he steps inside a cage. His tank may run out fast, but he goes all out until it does. There are many fight fans who prefer to see that than a fighter play it safe for three rounds and conserve his gas tank. One thing you could say about Donovan is he certainly gave it his all in this fight, trying to finish it on multiple occasions, until he had nothing more left to offer. Hats off to him, but still, I wish he would have put more time into preparing for this bout, especially when it came to his conditioning, which has caused him troubles in the past. It really should have been a lesson he learned multiple fights ago. Had it been, he would have been able to go 15 minutes in this fight, no problem. Phil Harris Harris was released from the promotion after suffering a first round guillotine submission loss against Louis Gaudinot over four months ago, but the bout was turned into a No Contest when Gaudinot failed his drug test, and the Brit was invited back. I believe the fact that Neil Seery needed an opponent played a bigger part in bringing him back than the failed drug test, but he returned, nonetheless. He was a game opponent whose chin held up quite well, but ultimately came up short on the judges’ scorecards, losing a unanimous 30-27 nod in the rematch, after having defeated Seery via unanimous decision on the regional circuit four years ago. While a losing effort, it was a solid performance by Harris, so I would not be surprised to see him get another chance, especially considering the fact that the UFC flyweight division is so incredibly thin. That said, he is now officially 1-3-1 NC in the Octagon and it is very likely that they brought him back just for this fight and will again be serving the Brit his walking papers.
