UFC is at the peak of its roster trimming season.
With the conclusion of the 2025 Contender Series season, room must be made for all the new talent soon to make their official debut. Generally, UFC signs new athletes to four fight contracts and then chooses whether or not to offer a second, more lucrative contract after those four bouts play out. In this latest roster purge, three athletes have been cut after fighting out their initial contract: Yanal Ashmouz, Quang Le, and Rolando Bedoya.
Ashmouz (8-2 overall, 2-2 UFC) is the most surprising and notable of these releases. Israel’s “Red Fox” proved himself a talented fighter with a quick knockout of the well-regarded Sam Patterson and one-sided drubbing of Trevor Peek. He alternated those wins with competitive losses to Chris Duncan (see his broken wrist here) and Quillan Salkilld, a pair of rising Lightweights both on the verge of a position in the Top 15.
At 30 years of age and young in his career, there’s still time for a comeback.
Quang Le (9-3 overall, 1-3 UFC) was more fun than his record might imply. “Bang” lost his short-notice UFC debut via decision to Chris Gutierrez, a well-established former contender. Since then, he was stopped by Chinese veteran Long Xiao and mega prospect Santiago Luna, though he did submit Gaston Bolanos between those losses. His war with Luna back in September was an absolute firefight for as long as it lasted (watch here), but that scrap will not save his job.
Finally, Rolando Bedoya (14-5 overall, 0-4 UFC) lost decisions in all four of his UFC appearances to Khaos William, Song Kenan, Jai Herbert, and Jamie Mullarkey. The Peruvian Lightweight is still just 28 years of age, but it will take a solid win streak to see him back in the Octagon after this disappointing first run.
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