Rinat Fakhretdinov and UFC part ways, not re-signed after sub-1 minute KO

Rinat Fakhretdinov has posted up an undefeated record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship but he will no longer be a UFC contracted athlete heading into 2026.

The UFC has elected to not re-sign the 34-year-old and the beginning of this story kicking off with an initial report from Tom Feely. The Sherdog contributor utilized his X account @omgitsfeely to convey some recent omissions from the UFC roster page, as Feely said,

“Rinat Fakhretdinov, Loik Radzhabov and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos have been removed from the http://UFC.com roster.”

Following the first report of this news, Nolan King of MMA Junkie was able to confirm 33 percent of these potential releases, as King took to his X account @mma_kings to state,

“Rinat Fakhretdinov and the #UFC have indeed parted ways (h/t @omgitsfeely ). Sources say Rinat (despite being 6-0-1 UFC) was not re-signed after he fought out his deal.”

Rinat Fakhretdinov and his UFC run overall

Fakretdinov never found himself in the red on his professional UFC ledger but received his pink slip all the same after over three and a half years with the organization. Rinat Fakhretdinov made his UFC debut in June 2022 after putting together a 19-2 record in professional mixed martial arts. In his debut outing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Russian native bested Andreas Michailidis at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Rozenstruik.

Subsequent octagon trips would see Fakhretdinov secure a pair of wins with a unanimous decision victory notched over Bryan Battle and a sub one-minute submission finish over Kevin Lee. After a majority draw to Elizeu Zaleski, Fakhretdinov secured decision wins over Nicolas Dalby and Carlos Leal via split and unanimous verdicts, respectively.

The last fight notch a knockout victory at the fifty-four second mark against Andreas Gustafsson at UFC Fight Night: Imavov vs. Borralho in September.