A fifteen-fight veteran of the UFC roster is no longer with the promotion.
Darren Stewart, a Cage Warriors alum who joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2016, competed this past weekend at UFC Vegas 35. A TKO loss to Dustin Jacoby was his third defeat in four fights, and it appears to have spelled his exit from the promotion.
The middleweight’s other fight in that span was a no contest against Eryk Anders. Stewart would go on to lose the pair’s rematch, in a fight held at 205lbs.
MMA Fighting was first to announce news of Stewart’s release. TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter had previously reported that Stewart had been removed from the promotion’s rankings pool.
“The Dentist” started his UFC career with an 0-3 (1NC) run across his first four fights, but bounced back immediately after with a pair of TKO victories. Overall, he posted a 5-8 record in the promotion, plus two no contests.
With the return of Dana White’s Contender Series, the promotion appears to have been doing a little cleaning up roster-wise. Yancy Medeiros, Jerome Rivera, Justin Jaynes, and Ryan Benoit have all been released in the past couple of weeks. Demian Maia, a former two-division title challenger, fought out his contract, and has not been re-signed. Jimmie Rivera and Christian Aguilera were also shown the door recently.
With the influx of talent from the Contender Series, roster spots are at a premium. The show begins its ten week fifth season tonight.
