The UFC has parted ways with several athletes off its active roster, including Ketlen Vieira, the No. 5-ranked women’s bantamweight fighter.
Veteran MMA reporter Guilherme Cruz first reported the news on social media that Vieira was removed from the UFC roster. In addition to Vieira, Cruz reported that light heavyweights Ivan Erslan and Tuco Tokkos, plus flyweight Daniel Barez, have all been removed from the roster, as well.
“Ketlen Vieira has been removed from the UFC roster, per sources. She leaves after defeating Jacqueline Cavalcanti. Ivan Erslan also parts ways despite winning his last fight. Tuco Tokkos and Daniel Barez have also been removed from the UFC roster. Story coming to @MMAFighting,” Cruz wrote on X.
Ketlen Vieira’s UFC Release is Somewhat Surprising
Vieira is coming off a decision win over Jacqueline Cavalcanti at UFC Vegas 117, a victory that kept her in the No. 5 spot in the women’s bantamweight division. However, it wasn’t enough to keep her on the roster.
Viera first joined the UFC in 2016, so she has spent a decade inside the Octagon, going 10-5 overall in the UFC. It’s a strong record overall, and she has some really big wins on her resume over fighters such as Holly Holm, Miesha Tate, and Cat Zingano. But almost all of Vieira’s fights go the distance, and she only has one stoppage win in her entire UFC career. The promotion prefers to have fighters on its roster who finish fights, so by that metric, it’s not totally shocking that Vieira got the boot, even though she is one of her division’s winningest fighters.
UFC Releases Three More Fighters
In addition to Vieira, the UFC released three more fights, including Erslan and Tokkos, who just fought each other at last weekend’s UFC Vegas 117 event. The fact that they both fought each other and yet both got released makes the fight they had with each other seem rather pointless.
That being said, Erslan was just 1-3 in the UFC, and his only win was the victory over Tokkos, where he wrestled his way to a decision win, so it’s not a huge shocker that the UFC let him go. Tokkos was also 1-3, and despite having a submission win over Junior Tafa mixed in there, the promotion decided they were better off parting ways with him.
As for Barez, he, too, was a 1-3 UFC fighter, but he was coming off a very fun fight with Luis Gurule at UFC Vegas 117, and there was some hope he might get another bout in the promotion since he put up a good fight. Ultimately, the promotion decided to let him go.
With the UFC starting the new season of Dana White’s Contender Series this summer, look for even more fighters to be released as the UFC has to find room on the roster for the new fighters it signs. There could be up to 50 fighters from DWCS signed to the UFC, so expect a similar amount of cuts as the promotion looks to make room on the roster for its new crop of prospects.
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