On the Chopping Block: UFC 189, TUF 21 Finale and Fight Night 71

Scott JorgensenIt has been a crazy week of fights with UFC 189, the TUF 21 Finale and UFC Fight Night 71 in San Diego, and with Saturday night’s Glasgow card approaching, it isn’t nearly over yet! Following the three previous UFC cards, let’s take a look at some of the competitors we may no longer see in action inside the Octagon… ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK Yosdenis Cedeno Cedeno is now 1-3 inside the Octagon and on a two-fight skid following his UFC 189 preliminary card defeat against Cody Pfister. After that performance, I think it is likely that he will be receiving is walking papers from the promotion. The Cuban shows no promise as a lightweight and has not been improving his mixed martial arts game. He may not be UFC-calibre and if he does get one last chance, I don’t see him lasting long in this promotion. That said, I really do expect him to be released following this past Saturday night’s outing. Darrell Montague Montague is now 0-3 in the UFC with a unanimous decision loss to Kyoji Horiguchi and a pair of first round knockouts against current UFC Flyweight title challenger Jon Dodson and most recently, Willie Gates at this past Sunday night’s The Ultimate Fighter Season 21 Finale. After three consecutive defeats inside the Octagon, I don’t see Montague getting another chance and fully expect to see him released from the promotion. Look for him on a future Tachi Palace card. Scott Jorgensen After an unsuccessful 1-3 run in the UFC’s flyweight division, which followed a 3-3 run at bantamweight, Jorgensen opted to move back up to 135-pounds, where he took on Manny Gamburyan at last night’s UFC Fight Night 71 in San Diego, losing the bout via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards after three rounds of action. Jorgensen is now 1-5 in his last six bouts and 2-7 in his last nine. I would not be surprised to see him get one last crack, considering he is currently on a two-fight skid and not three, but I think it is more likely that he will be receiving his walking papers from the promotion. Andrew Craig Craig captured the Legacy FC middleweight title and parlayed it into a contract with the UFC. He made his promotional debut against Kyle Noke, with an undefeated professional mixed martial arts record of 6-0. Noke was getting the better of him in the fight, but after injuring his knee, Craig was able to take over and cruise to a unanimous decision victory, extending his record to 7-0. He took on Brazilian veteran Rafael Natal in his next outing and faced adversity, as Natal had him badly hurt and nearly finished. Though after letting his guard down towards the end of the second frame, Craig landed a head-kick that put the Brazilian away, earning his second consecutive victory inside the Octagon. Unfortunately for Craig, the good times would end there. He was defeated by Rony Markes in his next outing, then went on to take a split decision win over Chris Leben, and has since dropped three in a row. He was dropped and submitted by Luke Barnatt, lost a unanimous decision to Cezar Ferreira and then made the move down to the welterweight division, where he took on promotional newcomer Lyman Good at last night’s UFC Fight Night 71 in San Diego and lost the bout via second round knockout. Now having dropped three straight, I think it is likely that we have seen the last of “Highlight” inside the Octagon.

Written by Gabe Killian

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