Five fighters have parted ways with the UFC.
Welterweight Emil Meek, flyweight Lara Procopio, heavyweight Roque Martinez, and lightweights Alexander Yakovlev and Joe Ellenberger are no longer under UFC contract, MMA Fighting confirmed with promotion officials recently.
Meek (9-5, 1 NC) exits the UFC having lost three consecutive fights to Kamaru Usman, Bartosz Fabiński, and Jake Matthews following his successful promotional debut in 2016. The 32-year-old initially broke out on the regional scene in May 2016 with a 45-second knockout of Rousimar Palhares in the aftermath of Palhares’ run as World Series of Fighting champion, which ultimately led to Meek’s signing with the UFC.
Procopio (7-2) fought three times under the UFC banner since Aug. 2018, with her only win coming via decision against Molly McCann this past February. The Nova Uniao fighter recently lost via submission to Casey O'Neill.
Martinez (15-8-2) made a name for himself in RIZIN before signing with the UFC in 2020, bust went winless in three octagon appearances against Alexander Romanov, Don'Tales Males and Josh Parisian.
Yakovlev (24-10-1) lost six of his nine UFC bouts since debuting in the promotion in 2014, capped by a 1-4 slump over his last five.
Ellenberger (15-2) hasn’t competed since 2014 yet remained in the USADA testing pool until recently. The brother of former UFC contender Jake Ellenberger, Joe went 1-1 over his two octagon appearances before eye injuries led to his eventual retirement.