Dana White, president of the UFC. /CFP
While the UFC world is still surprised at the departure of middleweight contender Yoel Romero on Friday, President Dana White has made some even more surprising remarks: another 60 fighters may be cut from the UFC before the end of 2020.
"We're gonna go through some serious cuts here at the end of the year. Probably gonna have 60 cuts coming up before the first of the year. ... Our roster is very inflated right now. We're gonna have some big cuts coming before the end of the year. You're gonna see a lot of names going here in the next couple of weeks," said White at the news conference following Saturday night's UFC Fight Night.
No specific names have been mentioned. "We're just literally starting to go through the list," he said. "These are the tough decisions you've gotta make."
Yoel Romero (L) of Cuba punches Israel Adesanya of Nigeria during their UFC middleweight championship fight in the UFC 248 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, March 7, 2020. /CFP
Releasing some contenders at the end of the year is not unusual for the UFC, especially after it was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic like other sports competitions. No attendance has been allowed for any fight since March and that's a huge amount of money drained away. However, 60 is still a lot to be cut.
White might have gained confidence to do so from the work done in the previous months. Despite the pandemic, UFC brought back the competitions in May, earlier than most major sports events, and it has filled every weekend with fights since July. Meanwhile, the Dana White's Contender Series has also led to many new signees. New fighters can create good revenues for the organization while not making as much money as the established ones.