UFC cuts three fighters including 16-fight veteran Thiago Moises

The UFC released three fighters from its roster Thursday, including lightweight Thiago Moises, who appeared 16 times in the Octagon over an eight-year run. MMA Mania and the automated roster tracker roster.watch both reported the cuts.

Moises (19-10) departs on an 8-8 promotional record after dropping his final two outings, most recently a knockout loss to Jared Gordon in April. The 31-year-old Brazilian joined the UFC through Contender Series in 2018 and built momentum between 2020 and 2021 with three consecutive wins that secured him a main event slot against Islam Makhachev. He lost that bout and stumbled to a 3-5 mark in his next eight fights, never regaining serious contention in the lightweight division.

Smotherman and Carnelossi also cut after recent knockout losses

Bantamweight Cameron Smotherman (12-7) exits with a 1-3 Octagon record following three consecutive defeats. He opened his UFC tenure by upsetting Jake Hadley as a heavy underdog but absorbed a knockout loss to Kai Asakura in his final appearance last month. Smotherman also made headlines in January when he fainted during the UFC 324 early-morning weigh-ins and face-planted on stage, forcing his removal from that card.

Women's strawweight Ariane Carnelossi (15-5) was released after back-to-back knockout defeats, the latest coming earlier this month. The 33-year-old Brazilian finishes her run at 3-4 in the UFC, with her signature moment a wild 2021 win over Na Liang in front of the first post-COVID crowd at UFC 261. She went 2-3 after that victory and was stopped in her final two showings.

All three fighters could return to the promotion with wins on the regional circuit.

Reported via:

• MMA Mania — UFC cuts three fighters in latest roster purge, including 16-fight Octagon veteran