The UFC has let go of more ranked fighters, including Elias Theodorou.
The cuts keep coming from the UFC.
Following a report from Combate, the UFC has since confirmed with MMAjunkie that Elias Theodorou, former title challenger Wilson Reis, Marcelo Golm, and Eric Shelton are no longer on the roster. Theodorou, Shelton, and Reis were and ranked at the time, and the departures of Reis and Shelton mean that there are literally only 13 men’s flyweights on the UFC roster right now.
Theodorou (16-3) is no doubt the biggest name of the four released fighters. The TUF Nations winner won eight of his eleven appearances under the UFC banner. His last outing was a rather dreadful and hard-to-watch decision defeat to Derek Brunson in this month’s UFC Ottawa co-main event. The loss snapped a three-fight winning streak, and obviously it proved to be more costly than that.
Reis (23-10) once fought Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title, losing by armbar in April of 2017. The Brazilian grappling specialist went on a slide from that moment forward, and he’s just 1-4 in his last five. Against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 236, Reis was TKO’d in the opening round.
Shelton (12-6) fought on season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter, reaching the semifinals before losing to Tim Elliott. He would lose his first two UFC bouts to Alexandre Pantoja and Jarred Brooks, before finally getting into the win column against Jenel Lausa. Shelton lost a decision to Alex Perez in February of 2018, edged out Joseph Morales later that year, but fell to Jordan Espinosa by decision this past March.
Lastly, Golm (6-3) was an obvious cut candidate given his underwhelming 1-3 record. The Brazilian heavyweight prospect won his debut against Christian Colombo, but proceeded to lose decisions to Tim Johnson and Arjan Singh Bhullar, and most recently was knocked out by Sergey Pavlovich at UFC Saint Petersburg last month.
If bad losing skids or overall UFC records spelled the end for Shelton, Reis, and Golm, one can only assume Theodorou’s fighting style played a major role in the UFC’s decision to cut him. Only two of his UFC bouts ended in stoppages, several of his wins were not exactly thrill-a-minute stuff, and none of his matchups led to a post-fight bonus for either him or his opponent.
