Following losses at UFC 109 on Saturday, UFC Hall of Famer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman, heavyweight Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague and highly-touted lightweight Phillipe Nover have all been cut from the UFC. FiveOuncesOfPain.com was first to report on Coleman’s termination and further roster cuts are possible.
Coleman appeared slow and lethargic in his main event bout with fellow UFC Hall of Famer Randy “The Natural” Couture and was choked out in the first round. Both Hague and Nover were on the wrong end of judges’ decisions.
Coleman (16-10-0) was a step behind Couture for much of their bout, though he did manage to stagger his foe with punches in the first round. Couture dictated the pace and bullied Coleman before taking him down and securing a rear-naked choke in round two. Coleman engaged in a war of words with Tito Ortiz following the fight, but UFC President Dana White later commented that Coleman had likely competed for the final time inside the Octagon. With Coleman’s release, that appears to be the case.
Hague (10-3-0) was the unfortunate recipient of a record-setting seven-second knockout at the hands of Todd Duffee at UFC 102, but he was arguably robbed of a deserved victory – or, at worst, a Draw – in his UFC 109 bout with Chris Tuchscherer. Hague appeared to have done just enough to take the close first round and manhandled Tuchscherer in the final round, which one judge scored as a 10-8 in Hague’s favour. Despite the close nature of the fight, Hague was also cut from the promotion.
Nover (5-3-1) was said to be “the next Anderson Silva” by Dana White following his tenure on season eight of The Ultimate Fighter, but he was unable to live up to the hype and went winless inside the Octagon. Like Hague, Nover also suffered a very controversial loss when he was defeated by Kyle Bradley at UFC 98 and his departure comes after a decision loss to Rob “The Saint” Emerson at UFC 109. With three losses in a row, the formerly highly-touted Nover will be forced to find another promotion to compete for.
Further cuts are rumoured for the coming weeks and those who suffer losses at the upcoming UFC 110 event in Australia may also find themselves terminated from the roster.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)