Heavyweight Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem have been let go by the UFC. Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie first reported Overeem’s departure while JDS posted his goodbye to the company via IG.
Junior dos Santos, captured the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 2011 on the very first UFC on Fox when he stopped Cain Velasquez in just the first round. JDS has an impressive resume with victories over 5 UFC Heavyweight Champions as well as a TKO victory over Derrick Lewis. Unfortunately for JDS, he has lost his last 4 fights. His last fight was in December where he lost via TKO to Ciryl Gane. The 37-year-old dos Santos likely will be looking to continue his MMA career elsewhere.
The 40-year-old Demolition Man, Overeem’s last appearance was last month in a loss to Alexander Volkov. Overeem had won two in a row prior to his loss to Volkov and there was talk of one more run. Alas, that will not be the case for Overeem.
Payout Perspective:
Its easy to see that this move was a way to cut costs as both JDS and Overeem were experienced vets with huge show money paydays. Both are considered legends and you can see each becoming a UFC Hall of Famer one day. But, both showed their age and the wear and tear and it was clear that their best days were behind them. Despite this, you can still see these two providing some quality depth to another promotion.
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