UFC parts ways with two more fighters
The UFC had its final event of 2023 on the weekend but the promotion parted ways with two more fighters ahead of 2024.
On Thursday evening, X account UFC Roster Tracker which tracks the UFC roster and who has been added and removed – revealed that two more fighters have been removed from the roster. This comes after four fighters were let go just two weeks ago. According to the account, Parker Porter and Shannon Ross have been removed from the roster.
It should be noted that being removed from the UFC roster does not mean a fighter was released. Instead, it could also mean the fighter fought out their deal and were not re-signed.
Heavyweight: Parker Porter (14-9 MMA)
❌ Fighter removed: Parker Porter
— UFC Roster Tracker (@RosterTracker) December 21, 2023
Parker Porter has been removed from the UFC roster after going 4-3 inside the octagon. Porter is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Junior Tafa at UFC Singapore in August. Before that, Porter returned to the win column with a first-round TKO over Braxton Smith, which was also the final fight of his deal, he told BJPENN.com, meaning he just re-signed before the Tafa fight.
“This is absolutely do-or-die. I try and look at every fight as do-or-die but this is even more so because it’s the last fight on this contract so I’ll be fighting for a new contract, too. I’ll be just as hungry, if not more hungry as I was in the Parisian fight to not let any mistakes come my way,” Porter said to BJPENN.com back in August.
Porter started his UFC career out with a first-round knockout loss to Chris Daukaus in August of 2022 at UFC 252. He then won three straight fights beating Josh Parisian, Chase Sherman, and Alan Baudot before suffering back-to-back losses to Jailton Almeida and Justin Tafa.
BJPENN.com has since been able to confirm with Porter that he was released earlier Thursday evening.
Flyweight: Shannon Ross (13-9 MMA)
❌ Fighter removed: Shannon Ross
— UFC Roster Tracker (@RosterTracker) December 21, 2023
Flyweight Shannon Ross was removed from the roster following his second-round TKO loss to Hyun Sung Park on December 9. Ross went 0-3 in the UFC as he suffered a 17-second knockout to Jesus Aguilar at UFC 290 and in his debut, suffered a 59-second knockout loss to Kleydson Rodrigues at UFC 284.
Ross is currently on a four-fight losing streak, as the Aussie suffered a second-round TKO loss to Vinicius Salvador on the Contender Series. However, Ross fought with a ruptured appendix, septicemia, and blood poisoning, and had emergency surgery the day after the fight.
After fighting through all of that, Dana White was impressed by Ross’ toughness and gave him a UFC contract, but is now off the roster after going 0-3.
