According to a reports from MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz as well as Combate's Raphael Marinho, three more fighters are no longer apart of the UFC roster.
These departures follow another group of notable names, with the UFC now parting ways with Abdul-Kerim Edilov, Dmitrii Smoliakov and Eric Shelton. Edilov (17-4) is a unique case, winning his only octagon appearance with a stoppage over Bojan Mihajlovic in September 2017. He hasn't fought since though and is now off the UFC roster even in the midst of an eleven fight win streak.
Smoliakov (9-3) is a more familiar case, struggling in two separate UFC stints. 'The Lifeguard' first entered the octagon in July 2016, being submitted by Luis Henrique Barbosa de Oliveira and then being released after a stoppage defeat against Cyril Asker. After two years inactivity, Smoliakov then returned to the win column, submitting Evgeniy Bova in Aslan Challenge. That earned Smoliakov a UFC return but it was short-lived, being brutalised by Greg Hardy in just one round. He departs without a win inside the octagon.
Shelton's release was reported by Combate alongside Elias Theodorou, Wilson Reis and Marcelo Golm. 'Showtime' exits the UFC with a 2-4 record since debuting in January 2017. Most recently, Shelton was outpointed by a debuting Jordan Espinosa. He reacted to the release with a statement on Instagram:
