As first noted by UFC Roster Tracker, an automated service monitoring the UFC athlete database, Mark O. Madsen, Tyson Pedro, and Jamie Pickett have all been removed from the active roster. All three had previously announced their retirement, with Pedro and Pickett walking away from MMA on the same night, at UFC Vegas 87 on March 2.

Both fighters suffered defeat that night, with both citing time with family among their reasons for walking away. Pedro also renewed the fighter pay debate by suggesting a financial aspect to his decision as well.

Madsen competed for the final time last November at UFC 295, and announced his retirement in January.

Other fighters, however, appear to have been let go by the company. Those are:

• Matheus Mendonca
• Daniel Lacerda
• Denys Bondar
• Luis Saldana
• Fernie Garcia
• Mike Breeden

Many of the fighters exiting the promotion come as no surprise. Lacerda, who had some entertaining bouts, was 0-5 with the company plus a no contest. Bondar went 0-3 in his own UFC run for his part, while Breeden was 1-3, though coming off a win over Anshul Jubli.

In some cases, the UFC may have opted not to re-sign the athletes in question.

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Although Lacerda is 0-4 (1 NC) in the UFC, he has held onto his job because he goes all out for a finish in the first round every time, creating high-action fights even when he inevitably gasses out after that. Although Chairez initially got his first UFC win the last time they fought, the revelation that Lacerda never tapped caused it to be overturned, leaving Edgar still hunting for that crucial first victory. Of course, so was Lacerda. Only one man could get their first win, and in the end it was Mexico’s Chairez who did so.

Lacerda pressed forward from his southpaw stance with kicks to start. Chairez avoided most offerings and chopped the legs. When Chairez landed a good right hand, Lacerda shot and landed a takedown. Lacerda threw ground and pound but got overzealous, so when Edgar threw up a triangle he got stuck in it and was forced to tap quickly.

The two men put aside their differences that sprung up after their first fight and made up after the bout ended, putting this chapter of their careers behind them.

Official Result: Edgar Chairez def. Daniel Lacerdo by Submission (triangle choke) Round 1, 2:17

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“Last time the UFC came here I bought a ticket in the very last row of the nosebleeds with money from my savings,” Chairez told reporters on Wednesday.

“I was there supporting one of my very best friends on the card. Now I get to fight alongside him on the card.”

Fighting at home in the UFC was a real goal for the flyweight, but it wasn’t always real at home.

“I feel like I accomplished a goal. At first I thought it was impossible, but I trained and I made it. You accomplish goals by working hard. Now I get to be on the card in front of my people, a sold out house, and I’m not thinking about anything but winning,” Chairez said.

At UFC Mexico City Chairez faces Daniel Lacerda who he knows very well at this point. Their first fight ended in a no contest, then a rematch was canceled, but they finally fight this Saturday night.

“Everything about that fight, including the referee, was sh*t, but now we’re here. On Saturday I’m going to knock him out quickly,” he said.

Watch the entire media day scrum with Edgar Chairez above. He takes on Daniel Lacerda at UFC Mexico City on Saturday night.

* Translated by Cageside Press

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Edgar Chairez and Daniel Lacerda had been set to face off at a 130lb catchweight on the main card. Both men weighed in successfully well in advance of Friday’s 11AM PT deadline, with Chairez hitting 129.5 and Lacerda 130 pounds.

However, just before face-offs, promotion officials announced that the fight was off, citing a non-weight cutting related medical issue on the part of Lacerda. No other details were provided, but the fight will not move forward with the rest of the bouts planned for Saturday’s event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The fight was a rematch of a recent showdown between the pair that was overturned to a No Contest due to a premature stoppage by the ref, who had believed Lacerda unconscious while he was defending a choke.

UFC Vegas 81 is headlined by a featherweight match-up between Sodiq Yusuff and Edson Barboza. The card now moves forward with the following match-ups following Friday’s weigh-in:

Main Card

Featherweight: Sodiq Yusuff (145.5) vs. Edson Barboza (146)
Women’s Flyweight: Jennifer Maia (125) vs. Viviane Araújo
Bantamweight: Jonathan Martinez (136) vs. Adrian Yanez (135.5)
Middleweight: Michel Pereira (186) vs. Andre Petroski (186)
Catchweight (130lb): Edgar Cháirez (129.5) vs. Daniel Lacerda (130)
Bantamweight: Cameron Saaiman (135.5) vs. Christian Rodriguez (140)*

Preliminary Card

Featherweight: Darren Elkins (146) vs. T.J. Brown (146)
Women’s Bantamweight: Tainara Lisboa (133.5) vs. Ravena Oliveira (133)
Lightweight: Terrance McKinney (155.5) vs. Brendan Marotte (155.5)
Women’s Bantamweight: Irina Alekseeva (135) vs. Melissa Dixon (135.5)
Bantamweight: Chris Gutiérrez (136) vs. Alateng Heili (136)
Women’s Strawweight: Ashley Yoder (115.5) vs. Emily Ducote (115.5)

* Rodriguez misses weight by four pounds

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The flyweight fight was waved off by ref Chris Tognoni when Lacerda was caught in a standing guillotine — but in no way was Lacerda unconscious, nor had he tapped. The blunder was immediately reviewed by cageside officials in Nevada, with the result overturned to a No Contest before the official announcement had even been made.

However, that left neither man earning a win bonus, and the result was anything but satisfactory (Nevada regulations, while allowing replay review, do not allow fights to be restarted).

Chairez and Lacerda will get a chance to settle their business, however. The pair have been rebooked for UFC Vegas 81 on October 14.

News of the pair’s second fight was first reported by MMA Fighting.

Lacerda (11-5, 1NC) in particular is in uncharted territory in his UFC career, as he’s posted an 0-4, 1NC record through five fights. A willingness to take on all comers and fight on short notice has kept him employed, but he is badly in need of a win, for obvious reasons.

Chairez (10-5, 1NC) is 0-1, 1NC in his own UFC run.

UFC Vegas 81 takes place on October 14, 2023 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV. The following fights have been reported for the card to date:

• Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza
• Jennifer Maia vs. Viviane Araújo
• Jonathan Martinez vs. Adrian Yanez
• Marc-André Barriault vs. Michel Pereira
• David Dvořák vs. Tatsuro Taira
• Melissa Dixon vs. Irina Alekseeva
• Ashley Yoder vs. Emily Ducote
• Cameron Saaiman vs. Christian Rodriguez
• Darren Elkins vs. T.J. Brown
• Tainara Lisboa vs. Ravena Oliveira
• Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda

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It was a virtual certainty that Lacerda was getting his last chance, in a must-win situation at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.

To begin the fight Chairez landed a few nice jabs with low kicks following them. Lacerda returned a heavy leg kick of his own though as he looked to find his feet early in this fight. The Brazilian then looked to land a high kick after going to the leg a few times, but he couldn’t find his mark. Lacerda then went for one of his signature spinning wheel kicks, but he was some distance away again. With just 2:45 seconds left of the round, Lacerda decided to take this fight to the ground and secured himself a takedown. From there, Chairez looked to try and catch Lacerda in an arm-bar and although he couldn’t quite find it, it allowed him space to get back to his feet.

When the fight returned to the feet, Chairez reversed the clinch on the cage and began attacking a standing guillotine. A few times Chris Tognoni looked to step in but Lacerda gave him the signs that he was still in the fight and was working out ways to get out. Again Chris Tognoni looked to step in and instead of checking if Lacerda was definitely out, he just stepped in and pulled Chairez away. Unsurprisingly, Lacerda popped straight out looking absolutely fine, complaining that Tognoni prematurely stepped in. From there, there was a few minute delay before the official result was called. Bruce Buffer announced that rightly the bout was going to be ruled a no decision, having been reviewed by officials cageside.

Where this leaves Lacerda is anyone’s guess, but perhaps the UFC can run this one back.

No tap but the ref jumps in and stops this one 😬 #NocheUFC pic.twitter.com/5jIboRwzbT

— UFC (@ufc) September 17, 2023

Official Result: Edgar Chairez vs Daniel Lacerda ends in a No Decision (ref error), Round 1, 3:47

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The Fight Night card was plagued by fight cancellations even as the event itself got underway, losing a fight on Thursday, another on Friday, and then a third with the show already underway as Alex Perez suffered a medical issue backstage prior to his fight with Manel Kape.

It was another flyweight pairing, however, that took home Fight of the Night. An explosive first round by Daniel Lacerda had him well ahead against San Antonio’s own CJ Vergara, but he rallied back in the second, taking Lacerda to the ground and peppering him with strikes until the ref finally waved it off.

An early candidate for Comeback of the Year after Vergara was knocked down (and nearly out) in the opening round, instead the Texan walked away with the win — and $50,000 in bonus money. For Lacerda (Daniel Da Silva), he’s now 0-4 in the UFC, and despite some entertaining fights, will almost surely be shown the door.

Performance of the Night honors at UFC San Antonio went to Nate Landwehr, who submitted short-notice replacement Austin Lingo, and another Texas native, Daniel Pineda. Returning from over a year away in part due to a suspension for amphetamines, Pineda notched career win number 28 by submitting Tucker Lutz.

Along with career win #28, that’s also stoppage #28 for the 37-year old.

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Both men were competing in their fourth UFC bout as they tried to establish themselves in the division, but with losing records they were in must-win territory, particularly Lacerda who was 0-3 in the promotion. However, Daniel is known for his finishing ability, having never gone the distance, win or lose, so this fight seemed to be a banger on paper. Lacerda’s fights usually end inside the first round, as his cardio drops precipitously after that. Vergara was a hometown boy, fighting out of San Antonio, and had the crowd behind him; the energy was through the roof when his name was announced.

Vergara did keep a measured pace early on, sticking to leg kicks as he found his range and not letting the energy of the crowd let him make mistakes. The two began to both find the target with punches as well as kicks. Lacerda tried a flying knee at one point on an off-balance Vergara, a big action. Vergara responded with a big left hand that pushed Lacerda of-balance himself. Lacerda then threw a spinning wheel kick that dropped Vergara, who literally turned and ran. Lacerda finally found him and dropped him to his knees, Vergara clinched up and ran away. For over a minute straight he ran away. Lacerda poured on the pressure, hurting him again and again as Vergara retreated.

The clock ticked down past 1:30 as Lacerda decided to go for a takedown and got it. He got into full mount and forced Vergara to give up his back; he got both hooks in quickly. Lacerda went for a neck crank that almost finished it but Vergara peeled the hands off and got back to his feet with forty seconds left. Lacerda began to look gassed then as Vergara tagged him with left hands. But Vergara then got hurt again and retreated until the end of the round, when he finally went forward and landed punches. It was an absolutely insane round, which had the crowd were roaring.

Between rounds, Vergara’s corner told him that Lacerda was done but that he was down 10-8. When the second round started he stayed safe but Lacerda was still there and the wheel kick was always threatening to land. Vergara pushed Lacerda back and landed strikes but Lacerda landed a spinning elbow that backed him off. Lacerda went for a takedown which Vergara defended. Lacerda grabbed a leg and turned it into a potential calf slicer but Vergara rained down massive punches and elbows which hurt him and made him give up the position. He settled into top half guard.

As the fight crossed the halfway point CJ tried to lock up an arm triangle choke and stepped off to the side. Lacerda tried to hang on but his face turned purple, however he slipped free. Vergara stayed on top and dropped down elbows as the crowd chanted, “CJ, CJ.” With ninety seconds left he started using elbows to the body. Lacerda offered up no resistance as Vergara dropped elbow after elbow on his face. Ref Jason Herzog warned him to get out of there multiple times but Lacerda could only turn to his stomach and continue to eat punches until the fight was stopped.

Had the whole arena hyped up 🙌@CJVergara1991 adding an early entry for comeback of the year!!!! #UFCSanAntonio pic.twitter.com/jnb7nkOKEt

— UFC (@ufc) March 25, 2023

The crowd went absolutely wild as CJ Vergara jumped up on the cage and celebrated. After being down multiple times in round one, almost being finished, and losing 10-8, he was able to return to dominate Lacerda and do the same to him before finally getting a finish in the second round. This may be somewhat of a star-making performance for Vergara, and will absolutely be in the conversation for ‘Fight of the Night’ honors.

Official Result: CJ Vergara def. Daniel Lacerda by TKO (ground and pound), Round 2, 4:04

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Da Silva had lost two straight, and was badly in need of a first UFC victory. But it was Altamirano starting hot, going on the offensive early. That led to some quick back-and-forth exchanges, including a spinning high kick that sailed wide. It was Da Silva who then drew first blood, knocking Altamirano down with a right hand.

Altamirano survived, and got back to his feet, but was clearly hurt and still under fire. Da Silva went to the body, but Altamirano responded with a knee to the mid-section that dropped Da Silva! Altamirano then got on top, dropping ground n’ pound. He had to avoid an arm-bar attempt, but was able to drop some vicious elbows, slicing open Brazil’s Da Silva. An avalanche of elbows followed, each more punishing than the rest. While Da Silva was covering up, he was still taking a massive amount of damage.

Soon enough, Da Silva’s defense became less than intelligent, and the ref called it. Mexico’s Altamirano earns his first UFC victory in style.

Official Result: Victor Altamirano def, Daniel Da Silva by TKO (ground n’ pound), Round 1, 3:39

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Figueiredo and da Silva were both looking to bounce back from recent losses, and make their way up in the 125 pound division — currently ruled by Figueiredo’s brother Deiveson.

A fight that appeared to have barn-burner written all over it instead ended after mere moments on the ground.

While da Silva found his range early, within a minute he was on top of Figueiredo off a takedown attempt. Despite the apparent advantage in position, da Silva suddenly found himself on the wrong side of a kneebar submission. Following a couple of transitions that began with Figueiredo on his back, the flyweight known as “Sniper” had the submission locked in. Sensing his leg was in serious jeopardy, Daniel da Silva quickly tapped, and that was the fight!

Kneebar out of NOWHERE for Francisco Figueiredo 🤯 #UFCVegas53 pic.twitter.com/vJCB487kNJ

— UFC (@ufc) April 30, 2022

“I’ve been training jiu-jitsu a lot,” Figueiredo said following the bout, adding that it had just came out during the fight. When he was taken down, he was in his comfort zone. “I trained to get out of there,” Figueiredo stated.

The win moves Francisco Figueiredo to 2-1 in the UFC, and he’s looking for a quick turnaround. “I’ll stay in Las Vegas and fight next week,” he said to cap off his post fight interview.

Official Result: Francisco Figueiredo def. Daniel Lacerda da Silva by submission (kneebar), Round 1, 1:18

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