Several fighters have been removed from the UFC roster. Among the names notable by their sudden absence were Dong Hyung Ma and Zhenhong Lu.
Hyung Ma (16-11-3) has lost his last three UFC fights. The Korean lightweight has been on the roster since 2015 and won three of his eight fights inside the octagon.
By contrast Lu (18-6) never even got to make his UFC debut. He had been slated to face Movsar Evloev at UFC Shenzhen but was forced to withdraw from the fight after suffering a cut in training.
In total 13 fighters were removed from the UFC roster this week. Tonya Evinger, Mairbek Taisumov, Chance Rencountre, Matthew Lopez, Cyril Asker, Khalid Murtazaliev, Talita Bernardo, Jodie Esquibel, Kyle Prepolec, Marcos Mariano and Isabela de Padua also appear to have been released.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Taisumov was told his services were no longer required. He has spent a lot of time training at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket and his UFC career has been successful.
Taisumov won six fights out of eight for the promotion but has only appeared sporadically since making his UFC debut in 2014. The Chechen has had visa issues which have prevented him for appearing on several cards.
