Two key elements of the UFC heavyweight division are no longer on the list.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos and perennial competitor Alistair Overeem parted ways with promotion.
A person with knowledge about the situation confirmed the promotional departures of the two heavyweights after their elimination from the UFC rankings on Wednesday, but asked to remain anonymous, because the promotion did not officially announce the movements.
UFC officials did not respond to MMA Junkie’s request for comment.
Dos Santos (21-9 MMA, 15-8 UFC) made his promotional debut at UFC 90 in October 2008. He made a statement as soon as he eliminated Fabricio Werdum with strikes in 80 seconds. The victory started a series of nine-fight victories by “Gypsy”.
Two title fights were included in that race: a tilt performance and a title defense. In November 2011, at the UFC on FOX 1, Dos Santos finished Cain Velasquez with fists in 64 seconds to become the UFC heavyweight champion. He will follow that performance with a TKO victory in the second round over Frank Mir at UFC 146 in May 2012.
Dos Santos lost the belt to Velasquez in a unanimous decision in the December 2012 rematch at UFC 155. Following a victory over Mark Hunt in May 2013, Dos Santos was given his chance to trilogy, but was defeated by Velasquez. by TKO at UFC 166 in October 2013.
For the next seven years, Dos Santos remained a heavyweight competitor. In 2018-2019, Dos Santos even set a series of victories in three fights, with victories over Blagoi Ivanov, Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis.
Dos Santos watched the series with a four-fight losing streak. Prior to leaving the UFC, Dos Santos ended up on strike in four straight fights – losses to Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Ciryl Gane.
Overeem (47-19 MMA, 13-8 UFC) has already entered the UFC a well-known MMA star who has competed in numerous notable promotions, including Strikeforce, PRIDE and DREAM.
In December 2011, Overeem made his promotional debut at UFC 141 and finished off Brock Lesnar with a corporal blow and punches. In the next four fights, Overeem went 1-3, with TKO losses to Antonio Silva, Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell.
However, Overeem turned his bad luck around and broke out in four victories with victories over Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, Junior Dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski.
Over the next 11 fights that led to the exit of the UFC, Overeem would have ups and downs. Prior to his departure, Overeem won back fights against Walt Harris and Augusto Sakai before being punched by Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 184 on February 6th.