The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to Brazil Sunday night (February 22, 2015) with UFC Fight Night 61 and the incredible night of scraps saw a record-setting 10 (out of 11) underdogs walk away victorious. Now, after the befuddling and entertaining night of action, let’s take a look at which fighters we may no longer see compete inside the Octagon… ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: Josh Shockley Shockley made his Octagon debut at UFC 174 eight months ago, succumbing to a first round TKO defeat at the hands of fellow promotional newcomer Jason Saggo. After the sour debut, he got another opportunity to pick up a first UFC win and it came at Sunday night’s UFC Fight Night 61 in Brazil, where he came up short on the judges’ scorecards against native countryman Ivan Jorge. After back-to-back uninspiring performances in his first two Octagon outings, there is a fair chance that Shockley could be receiving his walking papers from the promotion. Even though he is tall and long for the weight class, he does not seem to be a UFC-caliber lightweight. On the bright side, he just turned 25 years old, so it is possible he could improve back on the regional circuit and work his way towards another shot in the big show. Cody Gibson With a six-fight winning streak under his belt, Gibson was considering hanging up the gloves, until the UFC finally came calling. He answered, stepping in on short notice for an injured Lucas Martins to take on fellow promotional newcomer Aljamain Sterling. Gibson delivered a solid performance in the back and forth fight, but ultimately came up short on the judges’ scorecards, losing a unanimous decision to the Serra-Longo product. He bounced back strong in his next outing with a 38-second knockout of Johnny Bedford, and then took on veteran Manny Gamburyan at UFC 178. He looked great against the Armenian and was getting the better of him on the feet, but he got caught in a tight guillotine choke at the tail end of the second frame and was forced to tap with seconds remaining in the round. Gibson was again expected to bounce back into the win column when he took on Douglas Silva de Andrade at UFC Fight Night 61 in Brazil. After another entertaining, back and forth 15 minutes of action, he again came up short on the judges’ scorecards, losing via unanimous decision and ultimately dropping to 1-3 inside the Octagon. Being on the two-fight skid could mean his release from the promotion, but considering the fact that Gibson has been entertaining in every outing makes me think there is a good chance they will bring him back for one more.
