UFC reportedly releases nine fighters; Griggs, LeVesseur, and Martinez among cuts

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

With the UFC bringing over a new influx of fighters from the Strikeforce roster, they've made room by releasing several fighters from the organization.

According to a report from MMAOpinion.com, Chad Griggs, Nick Penner, Marcus LeVesseur, John Cofer, Joey Gambino, Jeff Hougland, Jared Papazian, Yasuhiro Urishitani, and Henry Martinez have all been released.

All nine fighters had losing marks inside the Octagon.

Griggs suffered back to back submission losses after coming over from Strikeforce himself, losing to Travis Browne and Cyrille Diabate at heavyweight and light heavyweight. Penner lost two at 205 lbs., dropping fights to Anthony Perosh and Cody Donovan.

LeVesseur, Cofer, and Martinez all got the boot from the lightweight division, and if any of those released have cause for complaint it may be LeVesseur. After going 1-1 in his first two bouts in the Octagon, he was beaten badly by Abel Trujillo in his last bout, a fight he took on just 24-hours notice. Cofer was stopped by fellow TUF contestants Justin Lawrence and Mike Rio in back to back fights, while Martinez's release comes after a 1-2 mark, where he most recently got knocked out by Daron Cruickshank.

Joey Gambino got his release from the featherweight division after losses to Steven Siler and Diego Brandao. Jeff Hougland is out of the bantamweight division after losses to Yves Jabouin and Takeya Mizugaki in succession.

Finally, Papazian's last chance in a drop to the flyweight division saw him lose a decision to Tim Elliott, and his third loss in the organization led to an expected release. Urushitani was brought in for the initial 125 lb. four-man mini-tournament, but losses to Joseph Benavidez and John Lineker cost him his spot.

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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_15647.shtml

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