Dana White has ruthlessly cut an unbeaten UFC prospect from the roster in a shock move.
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape was the promotion's final card of 2025.
It was also their final show on ESPN ahead of entering a new media rights deal with Paramount, which kicks off with Paddy Pimblett's interim UFC lightweight title fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 324 on January 24.
Ahead of a new era for the UFC, White has released three fighters from the roster, including unbeaten prospect Rinat Fakhretdinov, who scored a 54-second knockout in his last Octagon appearance.
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Fakhretdinov made his UFC debut in January 2022, having made a name for himself in Russia, winning the GFC middleweight title.
He beat Andreas Michailidis before securing big wins over Bryan Battle and Kevin Lee.
Fakhretdinov then drew with Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos before returning to the win column with a split decision victory over Nicolas Dalby in Saudi Arabia.
His victory in Saudi Arabia followed another win in the Middle East when he outpointed Carlos Leal at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
And, as mentioned, he destroyed Andreas Gustafsson in under a minute at UFC Paris in September.
Despite going unbeaten in the UFC and emerging as a welterweight prospect, Fakhretdinov has been let go by the MMA leaders.
He's not the only fighter to lose his UFC status as Loik Radzhabov and the aforementioned Dos Santos have also been cut.
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Radzhabov, who fought in the PFL, went 2-2 in the UFC.
He beat Esteban Ribovics at UFC 285 on his promotional debut before being stopped by Mateusz Rebecki.
The Tajikistan lightweight returned with a win against Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady and lost his last UFC fight to Trey Ogden.
As for Dos Santos, he departs the UFC having had 18 fights inside the famed Octagon and notably fought Fakhretdinov to a draw in 2023.
The Brazilian made his UFC debut in 2015 and boasts victories over former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland and UFC lightweight contender Benoit Saint Denis.
He stopped Strickland in 2018 and outpointed Saint Denis in 2023.
Dos Santos lost to Neil Magny in his last outing.
Topics: UFC, Dana White
Nasir Jabbar