An MMA fighter has revealed the brutal way he found out he was released from the UFC.
The UFC roster includes over 500 fighters across 11 weight divisions.
Dana White and the UFC matchmakers, including Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, have adopted a ruthless approach in order to keep on top of the ever-growing roster.
Ahead of Saturday's UFC 321, Cody Stamann has revealed that he is no longer with the promotion.
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Stamann is a veteran of 15 UFC fights but was released following his defeat to Da'Mon Blackshear last November.
The American, who spent over seven years in the UFC, suffered a third straight defeat to Blackshear, which served as the final bout on his contract.
He had hoped for a new UFC deal and held hope that he might get a call on short notice.
Instead, Stamann found out he was released from the UFC on social media rather than being told by someone from the promotion.
"That was my last fight on my contract in November," he said of his fight against Blackshear. "Obviously, not a great a great showing for me. Maybe the worst fight of my entire career. I had a pretty good idea I was done.
"But also I was like if there’s a short-notice opportunity at 145 pounds, I would love to do that. Because I think 145 pounds is where I’m going to be the rest of my career. I’ve just gotten too big. So if something pops up [they said] 'we’ll see'."
Stamann added: "Nothing popped up, and I was released. Granted the way I was released wasn’t great. I found out on Instagram. It would have been nice to get something [from the UFC], like it would have been nice if somebody told me before. I had to learn about it via Instagram and Twitter.
"That sucked but the UFC was always really good to me. I don’t have a whole lot of complaints. I’m not going to sit here and bitch about anything because they changed my life, and I’m thankful for that.”
Stamann, 35, made his UFC debut in 2017 and went onto have 15 fights inside the famed Octagon, fighting the likes of Aljamain Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili and Song Yadong.
He resumes his MMA career at Saturday's Legends of Combat 5 when he faces Shawn Tarlton in a featherweight bout.
Topics: UFC, Dana White
Nasir Jabbar