It appears that the UFC was forced to make some room on their current roster in order to accomodate their new Strikeforce imports, as 9 fighters were released by the promotion today.

The recently axed fighters are as follows:

Chad Griggs: Griggs sported an impressive 11-1 record when he made his octagon debut back at UFC 145. Unfortunately for Griggs, his lack of a ground game was quickly exposed by heavyweight Travis Browne, who choked him out 3 minutes in to the opening round. Griggs then made the decision to drop down to the UFC light heavyweight division, where he was welcomed by striker Cyrille Diabate. Many people expected this bout to be a stand-up war, however, that was not the case, as Diabate handed Griggs his second straight first-round submission loss.

Marcus LeVesseur: As one of the more decorated wrestlers to enter the UFC in some time, “The Prospect” was thought to have the potential to be a future UFC star. However, it quickly became evident that he was simply not well rounded enough to hang with the sport’s elite fighters. Marcus went 1-2 under the UFC banner, his latest effort resulted in a beatdown by Abel Trujillo at UFC on FOX 5 in Seattle.

Joey Gambino: Joey “The Raging Warrior” Gambino entered the UFC sporting a perfect 9-0 record. He made his octagon debut against Steven Siler at UFC on FX 4, but was thoroughly dominated on route to a first round submission loss. Joey tried to rebound from his first career loss when he took on Diego Brandao at UFC 153 in Brazil. Unfortunately for Gambino, he was outpointed by the TUF:14 winner and lost the decision.

Jared Papazian: Jared began his UFC career in the promotions bantamweight division. After losing his promotional debut to Mike Easton, he was submitted by Dustin Pague in his second octagon appearance. That loss prompted him to make the drop to the UFC’s flyweight division. Unfortunately, Jared faired no better there, as he was utterly dominated by Tim Elliott at the TUF:16 finale this past month.

Jeff Hougland: After a successful octagon debut against Donny Walker at UFC 132, Hougland re-entered the cage opposite Yves Jabouin in May of 2012. Jeff ended up losing to Jabouin via unanimous decision that night and suffered the same fate against Takeya Mizugaki in November 2012.

Nick Penner: Canadian light heavyweight Nick Penner began his UFC career sporting an impressive 11-1 record. Unfortunately for Nick, he was unable to add to his 11 career victories and instead compiled two more losses while part of the UFC. He was KO’d by Anthony Perosh in his octagon debut and then TKO’d by Cody Donovan last month at UFC on FX 6.

John Cofer: A member of the TUF season 15 cast, Cofer fought twice inside the UFC octagon. He suffered a KO loss to Justin Lawrence in his promotional debut and was then submitted by Mike Rio at the TUF:16 finale in December.

Yasuhiro Urishitani: After being blasted by Joseph Benavidez in the opening round of the flyweight tournament, Yasuhiro was then outpointed by  John Lineker at UFC on FUEL TV 6.

Henry Martinez: Martinez went 1-2 under the UFC banner. After losing a close split-decision to Matt Riddle, Henry was demolished by Daron Cruickshank at this past months UFC on FOX 5 event in Seattle.

Is there anyone on this list that you feel should have been given another chance? Let’s hear it Penn Nation!

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