Dana White Cuts Seven Fighters From UFC Roster Ahead of UFC 320

Seven UFC stars have been cut from the active roster as part of a brutal clear-out administered by Dana White.

This weekend the UFC president is focused on the Las Vegas superfight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, with the bout the first to be promoted by Zuffa Boxing under the TKO banner.

But White is still running proceedings at UFC, where there will be a Fight Night on the Saturday as part of the third annual "Noche UFC" celebrating Mexico's independence day.

The next major UFC event, UFC 320, takes place on 5 October in Vegas and will be headlined by the rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira for the UFC light heavyweight title.

However, it's emerged that the UFC roster has been trimmed with a number of notable departures.

Dana White has cut seven fighters from the UFC roster. Image: Getty

Who has been released by UFC?

According to the UFC roster watch which tracks fighter removals and additions, seven have been taken off - with Paul Craig, Melissa Martinez, Westin Wilson, Preston Parsons, Austin Hubbard, Maheshate Hayisaer and Maryna Moroz all given the boot.

The raft of exits were also announced by Tom Feely of Sherdog and comes as a result of contracts being cancelled or extensions not been offered to talent.

Craig, who has the third most Performance of the Night bonuses in UFC history had his last ever fight last weekend when he was knocked out by Modestas Bukauskas in the first round at UFC Fight Night 258.

The Scotsman's release from UFC was to be expected given he announced his retirement from mixed martial marts afterwards.

Meanwhile, Westin Wilson, Maheshate Hayisaer and Austin Hubbard all lost their final fights at UFC Fight Night 257 on 23 August. The latter has been released for the second time following three straight losses - having had his deal terminated in 2021 before returning following a successful run to the finals on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Ukrainian women's flyweight Moroz, formerly in the top 15 in her division, also suffered three straight losses before being cut.

The cuts appeared to have been made to make way for new signings. Image: Getty

UFC cut fighters on a semi-regular basis, with a number of releases taking place in both June and July.

It appears the latest round of cuts have been made to make room for fresh additions from fighters signed from the UFC Contender Series.

Caroline Foro, Shanelle Dyer, Samuel Sanches, Lerryan Douglas and Stephen Asplund were all handed UFC contracts after winning their fights at the UFC Apex in Vegas on Tuesday.