Less than two weeks following Rogerio Bontorin’s hospitalization and the cancellation of his fight against UFC 275, UFC released the UFC veteran from contract.
After a poor weight loss, Bontorin has decided to shift to bantamweight. The UFC cancelled Bontorin’s fight against Manel Kape in Singapore. Bontorin was forced to quit after sustaining an ankle injury that prevented them from being rebooked at UFC 252.
The news was confirmed to MMA Fighting by people with knowledge of the fighter’s release and first reported by MMA reporter Alex Behunin.
Bontorin earned a 2-3 record with one no-contest in the UFC flyweight division. His fight cancellation at UFC 275 marked his second weight issue in the promotion. He most recently appeared in the octagon in January at UFC Vegas 46, where he was outpointed via split call by Brandon Royval.
A veteran of Dana White’s Contender Series, Bontorin earned a UFC contract with a submission win over Gabriel Silva. After victories over Magomed Bbulatov, Raulian Paiva and others, Bontorin fell in fights against Ray Borg as well as Kai Kara-France. Then a decision win over Matt Schnell was overturned when he tested positive for a performance-enhancer. After proving that his positive result was due to a tainted supplements, he was granted a lower suspension.
MMA Fighting has also learned that Gloria de Paula has completed her contract and was not re-signed, and Timur Valiev is no longer on the roster, a person with knowledge of his UFC departure told MMA Fighting.
