First noted by UFC Roster Watch, an automated service that monitors changes to the promotion’s fighter database, Makwan Amirkhani, Danaa Batgerel, Tony Gravely, Trevin Jones, Omar Morales, and Ilir Latifi have all been removed from the company’s roster.

An additional report by MMA Fighting notes that in all cases, the fighters in question completed their contracts and were not re-signed by the promotion. That does not, obviously, preclude them from signing with the company again in future.

Latifi (16-9, 1NC), a teammate of Swedish standout Alexander Gustafsson, moved to heavyweight in 2020 for the first of four fights in the division under the UFC banner. He posted a 2-2 record in that stretch, and was coming off a split decision loss to Rodrigo Nascimento.

“The Sledgehammer” had flirted with retirement in recent years.

Amirkhani (17-9), a.k.a. “Mr. Finland,” joined the UFC in 2015, but was 1-5 in his last six fights in the promotion. Jones (13-10, 1NC) was on an 0-4 run, most recently stepping up against former bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt on short notice at UFC 285.

Danaa Batgerel was in a similar situation, on a three-fight losing streak. Omar Morales had also lost three straight, while Gravely, a former CES MMA champ, had lost two, and was 2-2 in his last four fights.

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Hiestand had bounced back with a win over Fernie Garcia after losing in the TUF 29 finale, while Batgerel had lost two straight, putting his back firmly against the wall.

Early on, it was Danaa Batgerel leading the dance. He was a step ahead on the feet, and when Hiestand predictably shot for a takedown, it was Danaa proving his defense was up to snuff. The pair tied up for a bit along the fence, trading knees, before Batgerel found himself stuffing another takedown attempt.

The Mongolian would clip Hiestand late in the round; Brady recovered at returned fire just prior to the horn.

Round two saw Danaa Batgerel come out hot, dropping Hiestand with a left hook. In response, Hiestand shot for a takedown, and determined, stayed on the attempt. But he ate a lot of punishment in the form of some nasty elbows for his efforts. Hiestand was soon opened up, bloodied, and painting the canvas red.

Despite the damage, Hiestand would take the back, and lock up a body triangle. But Danaa reversed, getting on top in guard. They’d finish the round on the feet, then head to the third with Batgerel clearly in control.

The third round, however, saw Brady Hiestand snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Danaa appeared to have slowed, and Hiestand had an opportunity to land an outside kick or two. Hiestand then found a home for his left hand, and landed a key takedown inside of the final 90 seconds. With the fight on the line, Hiestand dropped just enough ground n’ pound to bring in the ref! Quite the comeback for Hiestand, who proceeded to call out Christian Rodriguez.

“Christian Rodriguez, I see you’re done beating up a high schooler now, let’s try to fight the next youngest person in the division. I’m 23, and I’m ready to go,” Hiestand exclaimed with the callout, suggesting UFC 289 in Vancouver as a landing spot. “I want you, and I want you all night long!”

Official Result: Brady Hiestand def. Danaa Batgerel by TKO, Round 3, 4:21

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News of the booking was announced on Saturday by Iridium Sports Agency, who represent Hiestand. The Ultimate Fighter 29 competitor will be entering the octagon for the third time in the fight.

Hiestand (6-2) actually made it to the finale of TUF 29 at bantamweight, only to come up short against Ricky Turcios. Brought back for another go, he picked up a unanimous decision win over Fernie Garcia last November.

Mongolia’s Batgerel (12-4) will have the experience edge in the bout, but has dropped his last two. That skid has seen him suffer losses against Chris Gutierrez and Kyung Ho Kang.

Prior to those setbacks, Danaa Betgerel had won three straight. “Storm,” who started his fighting career posting an 9-1 record prior to joining the big show, is 3-3 inside the octagon thus far.

The UFC’s April 15, 2023 Fight Night event does not yet have a location, venue, or broadcast plan officially announced. The following match-ups have been reported for the card thus far:

• Martin Buday vs. Jake Collier
• Bruna Brasil vs. Denise Gomez
• Dustin Jacoby vs. Azamat Murzakanov
• T.J. Brown vs. Bill Algeo
• Edson Barboza vs. Billy Quarantillo
• Gillian Robertson vs. Piera Rodríguez
• Pedro Munhoz vs. Chris Gutiérrez
• Danaa Batgerel vs. Brady Hiestand

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The bantamweight pairing found both fighters coming off a single loss, with both previously having racked up three-fight win streaks.

After a touch of gloves, both fighters took the center of the octagon. Batgerel landed a counter left hook early that got Kang’s attention. Kang landed low kicks. About 90 seconds into the fight, Kang landed a heavy low kick, and Batgerel landed straight right. A 1-2 from Batgerel came next. Batgerel landed a hard right hand that backed Kang up. A 1-2, and a body punch from Batgerel landed, and then a few seconds later he landed a shovel uppercut. Thirty seconds left in the round, and Batgerel walked down Kang with combos. Kang threw a spinning elbow, but it slightly landed. The round ended with Batgerel throwing a power hook.

Round two started with a low kick from Batgerel, followed by a power jab. Kang wobbled Batgerel with a punch and attempted a flying knee but missed. 3:25 left, and both fighters exchanged leg kicks and punches. Nearing the midway point of round two, and Kang attempted his first takedown; Batgerel defended. Kang landed a power job but then ate a 1-2. A body kick from Batgerel landed. Kang tried for a takedown, missed, and ate an illegal knee, but the referee missed it. The round ended with a right-hand connection from Kang.

Forty-five seconds into round three, Kang landed a perfect right hand, but Batgerel ate it. Three minutes left in the fight, and Batgerel finally switched stances after his leg was beaten up. Just plain chewed up really. Both fighters exchanged jabs and punches. Batgerel attempted a spinning back fist but missed it. 45 seconds left in the fight, and Kang landed a nasty hook. Batgerel attempted a takedown with less than 20 seconds, but Kang defended it. Batgerel charged Kang to end the fight.

What a scrap 👏

[ #UFC275 | Prelims LIVE on ESPN2 & @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/KuCGkCvLgb

— UFC (@ufc) June 12, 2022

Official Result: Kyung Ho Kang def. Danaa Batgerel by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Originally paired up with Saimon Oliveira, Kang (17-9, 1NC) will now face Danaa Batgerel (12-3) at the event, set to take place in Singapore on June 12, 2022.

No reason for Oliveira’s removal from the bout has been reported. The booking was announced by promotion officials on social media, and subsequently confirmed by Kang himself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc6tvXGq32b/

Kang will be looking to bounce back from a November 2021 loss to Rani Yahya in the fight. That defeat snapped a three-fight winning streak that “Mr. Perfect” had compiled, though all three of those wins came back in 2019. The South Korean bantamweight missed all of 2020; the Yahya fight had initially been booked for earlier in 2021, but was pushed back due to COVID-19 protocols.

Batgerel also saw a three-fight winning streak halted recently, care of a Chris Gutierrez spinning back fist. That came at UFC Columbus last month; prior to that setback, the Mongolian fighter had put up wins over Guido Cannetti, Kevin Natividad, and Brandon Davis.

UFC 275, which takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, is set to be headlined by a pair of title fights. The main event sees Glover Texeira put his light heavyweight title on the line against top contender Jiri Prochazka, while Valentina Shevchenko once again looks to defend women’s flyweight gold in the co-feature, this time against Brazil’s Taila Santos.

The following bout have been reported for the card thus far:

• Glover Teixeira (c) vs. Jiří Procházka – for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
• Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs. Taila Santos – for the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship
• Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk
• Marvin Vettori vs. TBD
• Jacob Malkoun vs. Brendan Allen
• Liang Na vs. Silvana Gómez Juárez
• Joselyne Edwards vs. Ramona Pascual
• Orion Cosce vs. Mike Mathetha
• Ramazan Emeev vs. Jack Della Maddalena
• Kyung Ho Kang vs. Danaa Batgerel

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Undefeated since his promotional debut in 2018, bantamweight Gutierrez was paired up with Mongolian Batgerel on the preliminary card. Like Gutierrez, Batgerel was undefeated since his promotional debut, riding the crest of three straight wins into Saturday’s fight at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

After a touch of gloves, both fighters took the center of the octagon. A leg kick and a right hand opened the fight by Batgerel. Gutierrez answered with his infamous low kick. Gutierrez landed a left hand and low kick. Batgerel backed Gutierrez up, but Gutierrez circled and escaped. Batgerel landed two hard right hands and rushed Gutierrez. Gutierrez missed a step-in knee. Gutierrez landed a body kick followed by a jab. About 90 seconds left in the round, Batgerel landed two right hands again. Gutierrez landed a jab, body kick, low kick combo. Thirty seconds left in the round and Gutierrez missed a spinning elbow, and Batgerel landed a slam takedown to end the round.

The spinning back elbow, however, was a sign of things to come. Round two started with the fighters exchanging kicks. A minute into the round, Gutierrez landed a 1-2, and Batgerel countered with a power right. Gutierrez landed a high knee and a low kick. Two minutes or so left in the frame, and Gutierrez landed the same spinning back fist that he missed in the first round. Only this time, it connected. Batgerel dropped, and Gutierrez pounced on him, dropping elbows to force the referee to jump in.

PERFECT spinning backfist from @CGutierrezMMA 😱 #UFCColumbus pic.twitter.com/SC3KwqwZs5

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 26, 2022

An impressive, highlight reel win for Gutierrez, who has been on a roll. Gutierrez has five straight wins, while Batgerel sees his own win streak snapped.

Official Result: Chris Gutierrez def. Danaa Batgerel by TKO (spinning back fist & eblows), Round 2, 2:34

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On Tuesday, Iridium Sports Agency announced that their client Montel Jackson will fight Danaa Batgerel on March 26 at UFC Fight Night: Blachowicz vs. Rakic. The fighters were scheduled to fight in September; however, visa issues scrapped the bout.

Jackson (11-2) got back in the win column and went 2-0 in 2021. He knocked out Jesse Strader in March, and then in September, he dominated JP Buys to win a unanimous decision. Jackson set the record for the most knockdowns in a fight in UFC Bantamweight history with four in his fight with Buys.

Batgerel (10-2) has been on a roll since losing his UFC debut in 2019. “Storm” is currently riding a three-fight win streak with three first-round knockouts. Two of them came in 2021. He knocked out Kevin Natividad at UFC 261 in 50 seconds and then finished Brandon Davis in two minutes in his last outing.

Both bantamweight prospects are getting close to the division’s upper echelon, and a win in September will help their climb and possibly get them a date with a ranked opponent.

UFC Fight Night: Blachowicz vs. Rakic is expected to go down at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. This will mark the first time that the UFC will leave the UFC Apex for a Fight Night event since before the pandemic (although a rumored London card may do the same).

The UFC’s March 26 Fight Night card currently breaks down as follows:

• Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic
• Askar Askarov vs. Kai Kara-France
• Amanda Ribas vs. Michelle Waterson
• Sara McMann vs. Karol Rosa
• Tucker Lutz vs. Seung Woo Choi
• Montel Jackson vs. Danaa Batgerel

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Entering his 38th UFC fight and fight number 50 overall, the veteran lightweight welcomed Erick Gonzalez to the promotion Saturday night. Early on, Gonzalez had Miller hurt — but could not put him away. Instead, Miller’s instincts kicked in, and he landed a key takedown, buying himself some much needed recovery time.

The second round saw the opposite scenario, with Miller absolutely crushing Gonzalez with a left hand over a kick. Gonzalez had dropped his hands when he fired the kick, leaving himself wide open to the knockout blow.

The finish, Miller’s first knockout since UFC 200, earned him one of four Performance of the Night bonuses awarded at UFC Vegas 40. No Fight of the Night was handed out.

The other $50,000 performance bonuses went to Bruno Silva, Nate Landwehr, and Danaa Batgerel.

Mongolia’s Batgerel absolutely smashed the returning Brandon Davis on the night’s preliminary card. That victory earned him his third win inside the octagon — and his third straight finish as well. Batgerel’s only loss in the promotion came in another bonus-winning fight, a Fight of the Night against Heili Alateng back in 2019.

Silva, also on the preliminary card, stopped TUF winner Andrew Sanchez in the third round of their middleweight bout. “Blindado” has now won both his UFC outings to date.

Landwehr, meanwhile, locked an anaconda choke on Ludovit Klein to open the UFC Vegas 40 main card.

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Brandon Davis returned to the UFC at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 40, kicking off his second stint with the promotion against Mongolian Danaa Batgerel.

Both fighters came in on solid win streaks: Batgerel had won two straight under the UFC banner both coming the way of first-round knockout, Davis on the other had won all four of his fights outside the promotion, after being released in 2019.

Danaa opened up the fight with lots of pressure, putting Davis on the backfoot and looking for some big shots. Danaa quickly found a home for his right hand that dropped Davis, but he didn’t quickly look for the kill. Davis seemed to get his legs under him for a moment and tried to pump his jab but Danaa covered distance so quickly he was seemingly landing at will.

Mongolia’s Danaa leaped in with another hand right, and this one put Davis down badly. Danaa jumped on with the big ground and pound, and Davis did his best to scramble out and survive but it wasn’t enough. Herb Dean gave him every chance but in the end, it ended up being another knockout win for Danaa Batgerel.

HOLY 🤬🤬🤬

Danaa Batgerel has thunder in his hands 🌩 #UFCVegas40 pic.twitter.com/5oLLrrFQ7j

— UFC (@ufc) October 16, 2021

Danaa Batgerel earned his third straight first-round knockout win, absolutely proving himself as one of the greatest bantamweight prospects on the planet. After the fight, Danaa called for “50g’s baby” in reference to a post-fight bonus, and he absolutely deserves it.

Official Result: Danaa Batgerel def. Brandon Davis by knockout, Round 1, 2:01

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MMA Junkie was the first to report the news that Brandon Davis will be returning to the promotion after two years away. He will be fighting Danaa Batgerel on October 16 at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Dumont. Both fighters would subsequently confirm the booking on social media.

Davis (14-8) will be returning to promotion after being released in 2019. “Killer B” went 2-5 in his first stint. However, he went back to the regional scene and picked up four wins to get the call back to the UFC. Davis has faced the likes of Giga Chikadze, Randy Costa, and Zabit Magomedsharipov.

Batgerel (9-2) has been on fire since losing his UFC debut. The Mongolian fighter knocked out Guido Cannetti at UFC 248 in 2020 and then knocked out Kevin Natividad at UFC 261. Batgerel was scheduled to fight Montel Jackson last month; however, visa issues forced him to pull out of the fight.

UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV, on October 16 and broadcast on ESPN+.

The October 16 fight card now includes the following reported bouts:

• Norma Dumont vs. Holly Holm
• L’udovit Klein vs. Nate Landwehr
• Luana Carolina vs. Sijara Eubanks
• Andrei Arlovski vs. Carlos Felipe
• Julian Marquez vs. Jordan Wright
• Ariane Carnelossi vs. Istela Nunes
• Andrew Sanchez vs. Bruno Silva
• Timur Valiev vs. Daniel Santos
• Da Un Jung vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
• Brandon Davis vs. Danaa Batgerel
• Manon Fiorot vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
• Ramazan Emeev vs. Danny Roberts
• Marcelo Rojo vs. TBD

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