Derek Brunson was supposed to face Georgian middleweight Roman Dolidze at UFC 295 in November.
Instead, the #8-ranked UFC middleweight is both out of a fight, and out of a job.
Earlier this week, Dolidze revealed that Brunson was out of the bout, calling for a fight with Robert Whittaker (and later Jared Cannonier). “Brunson is out. I heard [Robert Whittaker] you want to fight by end of year! Lets do it! November or December!”
Then, late Thursday night, UFC Roster Watch, an automated system monitoring the UFC athlete database, noted that Brunson had been removed from the pool. The news of Brunson’s release was later confirmed by his manager, in a statement to MMA Fighting.
“Derek Brunson has been under the UFC umbrella for 11 years,” Brunson’s manager wrote. “He had an amazing career there. The last seven years he’s been in the top 10 rankings. The UFC was amazing to him there, helped shape who he is today and I’m very grateful for the opportunity he was given. He has to move on and looking forward to what comes next for him.”
Brunson still remains listed at #8 in the UFC’s official rankings, though that will no doubt change shortly. In the meantime, there’s no indication as to why Brunson was suddenly dropped. The 39-year old is coming off back-to-back losses against Jared Cannonier and Dricus Du Plessis, but had put together a five-fight win streak prior to that.
Dolidze, meanwhile, needs a new dance partner for the New York card.
