Eric Spicely has been handed his walking papers by the UFC for the second time.
Spicely (12-5) returned to the promotion last year, stepping up against Deron Winn. It was his first fight back since a 2-4 run with the company from 2016-18. However, over the weekend, Spicely failed to make weight for a 195lb catchweight bout against Markus Perez at UFC Vegas 5.
The miss was bad enough that Spicely wasn’t cleared to fight. Something he attributed to medication, specifically anti-depressants he began taking as the result of a bad concussion.
Alright @ufc this is goodbye again for now. Let’s see if we can do a 3 peat. Sorry to all my fans.
— éS (@EricSpicely) August 3, 2020
Speaking to MMA Fighting after announcing his release, Spicely stated that “after the Deron fight, I had a concussion for so long, and I was just so depressed after, I started taking medication.“ But with that came complications. “Naturally, with a lot of them, one of the side effects is you start gaining a lot of weight. It’s very hard to lose weight. So I’ve been trying to figure it out, and the weight cut just went f*cking south for the first time in my career.”
Spicely also detailed how he lost his corners ahead of the fight, as they were unable to cross the border from Canada, where he trains. Then, after enlisting the help of Tom Lawlor to corner him, the weight cut complications arose, along with an anxiety attack.
Still, Spicely, generally seen as one of the sport’s nice guys, isn’t ready to call it quits. After revealing that he’d been cut, Spicely posted on social media that he was looking for another fight, at either middleweight or light heavyweight.
I haven’t made money in over a year, needless to say I’ll be ready to fight short notice at 185 or 205. Fuck it
— éS (@EricSpicely) August 3, 2020
