Unemployment Crisis Hits the UFC: Clementi, Fioravanti, Wellisch + Others Sacked
("No Love" has "No Job." Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)
Now that the country is losing jobs at a rate of almost 20,000/day, it was only a matter of time before the UFC's contracted fighters began to feel the crunch. FiveOuncesofPain reports that the following fighters have been released from their contracts — and will now enter the worst job market since World War II:
— Rich Clementi was dropped shortly after tapping to a guillotine choke in the first round of his match with Gleison Tibau at Saturday's UFC Fight Night 17. It was his second-consecutive loss in the Octagon, following a previous decision loss to Gray Maynard at UFC 90. This is actually the third time that the UFC has given Clementi his walking papers; he was also dropped after losing his first UFC fight to Yves Edwards in 2003, and again after going 1-2 following his stint on TUF 4 in 2006-7.
— Luigi Fioravanti was also cut after UFC Fight Night 17. Though he was able to score a decision win over Brodie Farber at "Fight for the Troops" in December, his first-round TKO loss to Anthony Johnson on Saturday was his fourth loss in his last six UFC appearances.
— American Kickboxing Academy fighter Christian Wellisch is out after losing his light-heavyweight debut against Jake O'Brien at UFC 94. The loss followed a previous 44-second knockout loss to Shane Carwin at UFC 84, and dropped his UFC record to 2-3.
— Eddie Sanchez has also reportedly left the UFC after suffering back-to-back losses to Antoni Hardonk at UFC 85 and Justin McCully at "Fight for the Troops."
— Derek Downey, who was brought in to replace Amir Sadollah on short notice at Saturday's Fight Night show, won't be given a second chance after being subbed by Nick Catone via keylock in the second round of their fight.
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Anonymous Says:
Clementi? Why him? Yes he lost 2 straight but that guy has proven himself beyond a doubt in the ring over the past 2 years going what...5 straight wins over quality apponents! They should keep him around at least as a gate keeper.
Fedor a million ankles Says:
Sucks to be those guys, I hope they find work elsewhere or live in a state like NY were they give you rediculous amounts of money for unemployment benefits.
Atleast it's tax return time also.
Crap Factory Says:
Can't see anyone on the list that was really worth keeping around. No title contenders in that group. Hope they find something to keep them afloat.
Anonymous Says:
5th!!
Fedor a million ankles Says:
Getting the 5th comment is actually a declaration of homosexuality.
So is the 7th comment.
NeW jErSeY-nEw JeRsEy Says:
Clementi should not have been cut. The guy is a salty vet who is pretty entertaining and a good test for middle-of-the-pack fighters. Pretty lousy.
Fioravanti really hasn't done anything special. Tough guy, but looks a little chubby at 170. Maybe a comeback at 155?
mayhem420 Says:
They should have kept Rich.... he was held down for 3 rounds by Maynard and other than the recent loss to Gleison he has been pretty f-ing good.
Best of Luck Rich!!!
LAS Says:
It's a bummer for these guys, but you can bet the UFC will be saving $10-15K a fight by replacing any one of these 6-fight veterans with a UFC rookie. So, while you may have 6 hitting the unemployment line, that's 6 more spots for guys from smaller shows.
armfarmer Says:
"Getting the 5th comment is actually a declaration of homosexuality."
I think you're mistaken, you must be thinking of "first" comments.
Fedor a million ankles Says:
Actually, I was talking about 10th comments.
Crap Factory Says:
Here we go again. Another comment thread wasted by useless remarks about homos and firsts.
cpanger Says:
your just as guilty, nothing in your comment was MMA related. Here we go again.
Fedor a million ankles Says:
Well to be fair this is a thread about some fighters nobody really cares about.
14th.
Kadumel Says:
I kind of agree with Fedor
15th.
imjustadudeman Says:
IM A NOOOOOOOB!
16th.
Fedor a million ankles Says:
VROOM VROOM PARTY STARTER!!!
17th!!!!
breeze Says:
69
Ouch! That hurts Says:
My question is why does Crap Factory want to talk about his 1st as a homo?
Let me guess, you were drunk and the room was dark...and you thought it was a girl that was sodomizing you. Oldest excuse in the book.
Anonymous Says:
Good bye and good riddance Cockface Clementi this guy did not prove himself his rise to contendership in the UFC was based on winning against one dimensional opponents he sucks he can't hang with top competition finally get that bum out of the octagon
Anonymous Says:
I feel bad saying this, but I'll say it anyways: As good a fighter Rich was, I'll bet UFC would have never gotten behind him because of his voice. I can't imagine what the meatheads and casual fans think about Rich when they hear him talk.
21st!
DmonicIdeals Says:
Wooo whooo! More competition for jobs! Just what I needed!
NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mark Says:
Fioravanti is a good fighter and the UFC gave him shitstick matchups his whole run. They fed him to fighters who needed some padding on their records and never really gave him a chance to move up the ranks. The UFC fucked him in the butt and I for one am upset about it. He is a tough fucken dude and deserved a better chance.
armfarmer Says:
They gave him plenty of a chance... he had like 6-8 fights in ufc. So it was wrong for them to put Luigi against good fighters because it padded their records, but it would be right to put Luigi against shitty fighters to pad his record? If the guy wants to stay in the best org. in the world he needs to win fights against whoever they put him against. I'd say that's a fair chance. When you lose boring lack luster decisions to guys like Chris Leben you can't expect to stay around forever he's lucky he made it this long.
armfarmer Says:
He's had 9 fights, 2 of which you could argue he got fed to the wolves but hey if you aren't willing to fight contenders what are you there for anyway. I don't think he got screwed at all. Nothing against him but I never give a shit when I see his name on a fight card, I don't think he'll be missed. Best of luck to him though he can probably get in with strikeforce or bellator.
Jugger Says:
Rich Clementi always put on a good show. He fought aggressive. Gray Maynard had a heck of time trying to hold him down for three rounds. Rich was determined to make that an exciting fight, but Gray wouldn't have it.
I think he'll get picked up by Affliction or Strikeforce. They like the salty UFC vets. He should be alright. Now, the others...
armfarmer Says:
Yeah if anyone deserved to stick around it's Clementi he had a nice win streak and was pretty entertaining.
1glove Says:
Not smart of the UFC to cut Clementi, if he was on a card, even a weak one, I would get somewhat excited. Hopefully he can get signed with Affliction.
OTM Fight Shop Guy Says:
29th!
matt serra Says:
fuck a 30th
Mark Says:
Armfarmer - I want to begin my response to you by saying that you like dudes. Okay now that we have that out of the way....My point is that when the UFC wants to develop a fighter they treat them well - give them fights they can win. Give them cage time against weaker fighters so that they can develop their skills and get used to the atmosphere that is the UFC. I am going to use Nate Diaz as my example - look at his first two fights after Manny - two terrible fighters before they gave him a mild step up in competition in Pellegrino. This allowed time for Nate to become the prospect that he is....okay, so I just actually did research on Fioravanti's begining UFC career and he was given plenty of opportunities to win. Armfarmer I apologize, however, you still like dudes.
TUF Guy Says:
I'll take Clementi in and give him colonics on a daily basis. Using only my mouth! No hands mom, no hands!
NECROPHYTE Says:
Rich should stay, he's a good fighter.
Anonymous Says:
Strikeforce is looking for someone to fight Josh Thompson or Gilbert Melendez why not Rich Clementi he brings name value to any fight card.