(Momma said there’d be days like this. Photo courtesy of Spike.)

Well, this is never easy, but unfortunately we have to deliver some bad news — the services of TUF 8 veteran Eliot Marshall and Shannon Gugerty will no longer be needed in the Octagon. Though both fighters suffered defeats on the preliminary card of Sunday’s UFC on Versus event, Marshall’s firing is somewhat surprising, since his split-decision loss to Vladimir Matyushenko followed three straight wins over Jules Bruchez, Vinny Magalhaes, and Jason Brilz. But his loss to the Janitor isn’t the first time that Marshall has put in a dull performance, and he could have been released simply because he isn’t exciting enough. Naturally, Marshall isn’t happy about it:

As for Gugerty, his submission loss to Clay Guida was his second straight loss, and dropped his overall UFC record to 2-3. Have Chase Gormley and Paul Buentello somehow escaped this round of layoffs, or will we be hearing about their firings in the near future? Stay tuned.

Speaking of UFC on Versus…


— The show didn’t exactly set the world on fire, ratings-wise, pulling in 1,240,000 viewers. While that was enough to draw a solid 1.66 rating among males age 18-34, it actually fell short of the WEC’s two best showings, WEC 34 (1,540,000) and WEC 41 (1,300,000). The viewership for free UFC events on Spike TV (which is available in more homes than Versus) is usually above 2 million.

— Nevertheless, the UFC is planning at least one more Versus show this year. The next one is expected to be held August 1st at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. Formerly the Oakland Coliseum, the Oracle is the home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and has a maximum capacity of almost 20,000.