ESPN and MMAJunkie reporting that DFW says close to 60 fighters will be cut. Yoel Romero is the headliner so far, but I am guessing many well known fighters are being sent home.
According to Dana, Yoel has lost 4 of his last 5 fights, and is 44 years old making him more expensive than he is worth I guess. Will be interesting to see how many other fighters making decent money but aging and losing a good bit are at risk? Can see Robbie Lawler, Carlos Condit, Donald Cerrone or someone of this nature may be handed their walking papers.
Dana said 60 more cuts by the end of this year...expect some big names...they must be budget crunching because of Covid restrictions. I think Yair's gone, too. No way is he worth the headache... Other names I expect to see out there... Arlovski, Lawler, Cerrone, Woodley, Ostovich
And it's especially gonna hit hard because secondary markets like Bellator are not signing big names released or leaving the company like Fabricio Werdum and Anderson Silva anymore. I am guessing Bellator or Viacom is getting roughed up by the pandemic and no live gate as well. So the market for their services may be slim. Especially with 60 or more going home.
And like that, Rachel has been cut.. I think there has to be more to this Romero thing. He's lost 4 of his last 5 is the stupidest argument. Two of them to Whittaker (he won the 2nd fight); close fight against Costa (I thought he won; but he should have been more aggressive in the 1st); and then the snoozer Izzy fight...there has to be more to the story...
I think if you're going to be an old, expensive fighter, you need to pop ratings like Cerrone. Part of why Anderson Silva was cut as well, I suspect. Very expensive, doesn't bump ratings.
Looks like Yoel was just signed by Bellator. I thought they wanted to keep pushing home grown talent, but apparently that is not the case. Good on Romero for finding a home so fast tho. Yoel is gonna wreck that Middleweight division.
