UFC parts ways with heavyweight legends Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos: Report

UFC heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos were released by the mega-promotion on Thursday following a sequence of negative results from the veterans. TSN Sports and many others broke the news after UFC removed both the fighters from the current UFC heavyweight rankings. A few hours later, Junior dos Santos himself confirmed the cut, while sharing a heartfelt message on Instagram.

“Thanks, UFC, for a great 12 years! I fought through MMA's Murderer's Row to get my shot at the belt. Holding and defending it was one of the great honors of my life,” Dos Santos wrote.

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UFC release list: Junior dos Santos released by UFC

‘Cigano’ fought in UFC for more than a decade, even capturing the heavyweight title from Cain Velasquez at UFC on FOX 1. However, Dos Santos failed to reproduce his best qualities recently, getting knocked out in his last four fights against Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Ciryl Gane, respectively. His last win came back in 2019 against Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 146.

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UFC release list: UFC parts ways with Alistair Overeem

Alistair Overeem, on the other hand, had recently announced that he would like to have "one last run" at the prestigious 265lb title before hanging up his gloves. However, it seems like his recent loss to Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 184 might have ruined his dream. Thanking fans and the UFC, The Demolition Man wrote that he has had an “experience of a lifetime” since joining the promotion in 2011, where he defeated former heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar, with a brutal body shot knockout on his debut.

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Dana White on Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos’ release

During the UFC 259 pre-fight press conference, Dana White was asked to share his thoughts on the recent release of the heavyweight veterans. “We love those guys. Overeem has never turned down a fight. ‘JDS’ is one of the nicest guys in the sport. This happens every week here,” Dana White concluded.

Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos’ release comes just weeks after UFC released a host of fighters from their roster. Yoel Romero, Rachael Ostovich, Cole Smith, Collin Huckbody, Mark De La Rosa, Gadzhimurad Antigulov, Saparbek Safarov, Luiz Eduardo Garagorri and many others were released by the firm earlier, with more to be fired soon.

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Image Source: Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos/ Instagram