Not So Ultimate

There are few things in the UFC that can be called “untouchable”, but until recently, one of them seemed to be winners of “The Ultimate Fighter”. Look up and down the roster, and after 11 seasons of the show, the only champion to be released was Travis Lutter, who was already a UFC veteran when he was on TUF 4 (as were all the fighters on that season).

Now, that short list also contains young Efrain Escudero.

Escudero seemed to be everything that the UFC was looking for. A young, talented Mexican-American with a strong wrestling base and the desire to work hard and round out his overall game. Especially with the loss of Roger Huerta to Bellator Fighting Championships, it seemed as if Escudero would be the fighter that the UFC would rely on to appeal to Hispanic fight fans, who have long been loyal to boxing.

Then, we hear a few days after Ultimate Fight Night 22 that Escudero has been cut. This, after a 3-2 record in the promotion (including zero consecutive losses) and less than two years having elapsed since Escudero won the eight season of the UFC’s reality show.

Immediately, you start wondering why in the world the UFC would release such a talented young athlete. The first thing that you think of is how Escudero missed weight before his fight with Charles Oliveira. Escudero came in at 159 pounds instead of the contracted 155 pounds, forcing the fight to become a catchweight bout.

It’s not that far-fetched of a possibility, at least as a contributing factor to Escudero getting a pink slip. After all, Lutter missed weight before being cut, as well. However, this line of thinking falls apart when you consider how many fighters have missed weight (some repeatedly) and kept their jobs, along with the fact that Lutter’s mistake was much bigger, since it was for a title fight that had to be declared a non-title bout as a result.

So, was it Escudero’s performance? Maybe, but only if the UFC is all of a sudden using much harsher criteria for when to cut fighters. You don’t have to look very hard to find plenty of UFC fighters who have lost two out of three bouts and kept their jobs, and to much lesser competition than what Escudero lost to.

Escudero lost to Evan Dunham and Charles Oliveira. Dunham is now possibly a fight away from a lightweight title shot, and Oliveira is one of the UFC’s best prospects. Furthermore, it’s not as if Escudero wasn’t fighting competitively in the bout. Escudero beat fighters such as Cole Miller during his UFC tenure, making the cut that much stranger.

If you want a better look at how reluctant the UFC has been in the past to cut its TUF champions, here’s a quick rundown:

Forrest Griffin- Perhaps not the best example, but we’ll include him to be fair. Griffin lost two out of three (to Tito Ortiz and Keith Jardine) at a similar point in his career to Escudero. He’s also lost two in a row at one point since. Of course, he’s also been a champion, and he and Bonnar will never be cut, according to Dana White himself.

Diego Sanchez- Has lost two in a row twice in his career…in 2007 to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, and his last two, to BJ Penn and John Hathaway. Again, all tough fighters, but so are Dunham and Oliveira.

Joe Stevenson- He lost three out of four at one point (to Penn, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez). All tough fighters, but we’ve seen UFC competitors cut for less.

Michael Bisping- Lost two out of three at one point to Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva. Of course, he’s the UFC’s main draw in England, but Escudero was hoped to be the same for the UFC’s eventual conquest of Mexico, right?

Kendall Grove- Perhaps one of the better cases to bring up, Kendall Grove lost two in a row in late 2007/early 2008, and has more recently lost two out of three (to Ricardo Almeida and Mark Munoz) before getting back in the “W” column in his last fight.

Nate Diaz- Lost three out of four fights in 2009 and early 2010, to Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson, and Gray Maynard.

Mac Danzig- Heeeeeere’s the one. Danzig lost three in a row at one point, and has lost four out of five as of a June, 2010 loss to Matt Wiman, yet retains his spot in the UFC. His overall UFC record is just 3-4.

So, there you have it. Seven TUF champs have had stretches as bad or worse than Escudero’s, and a couple of them have had more than one. How can the UFC justify Escudero being cut according to performance while Danzig, Diaz and Grove were never cut?

Please note, I’m not saying that these other fighters should have been cut, but rather that Escudero shouldn’t have been. My point all along whenever cuts like this happen is that the UFC should take many things into account when choosing to cut fighters. It’s not just about losing a certain number of fights in a certain time period. Who did the fighter lose to? Who has he beaten? How long has he been fighting MMA? What is his upside? It should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

And maybe it was decided that way when Escudero was cut. After all, if you can’t justify the decision by looking strictly at Escudero missing weight, or his recent performance, what else can you assume? Still, it seems pretty short-sighted to start cutting TUF winners based upon a couple of losses against talented opposition, especially when the winners these days are younger and greener than ever. You would think that since the show now relies on far-less experienced talent than when the likes of Joe Stevenson and Forrest Griffin were signing up, they would be prepared to deal with some growing pains from the show’s competitors.

If TUF winners are going to be thrust in front of us with just a handful of pro fights, put on the main card of pay-per-views while experienced veterans toil away on the prelims, and altogether forced down our throats, shouldn’t they at least be given the chance to mature?

One last thing…about that “six-figure contract”. While it was exposed to be some pretty creative wording years ago when the show first started, it has never been more misleading than in the case of Escudero. When he won TUF 8, Escudero made $16,000 for the fight. Then, he began his “six-figure contract”. He likely made $30,000 (with win bonus) at UFC 103 (Texas doesn’t release numbers), then $15,000 at Ultimate Fight Night 20. He made $30,000 again (also with win bonus included) at UFC 114, then most likely $15,000 in his final loss to Oliveira at UFN 22 (numbers haven’t been released yet, but fellow recent winner Amir Sadollah was still making $15k to show and $15k to win in his fourth fight of his TUF winner contract).

That means that in his four fights in the UFC after winning the show, Escudero made $90,000. Six-figure contract, indeed.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Tags: Charles Oliveira, Dana White, Diego Sanchez, Efrain Escudero, Evan Dunham, Forrest Griffin, Joe Stevenson, Kendall Grove, Mac Danzig, Michael Bisping, Nate Diaz, The Ultimate Fighter, Travis Lutter, UFC