Season's Beatings: Analyzing the UFC's December Transactions

The holiday season didn't elicit the blood-letting that November did, but there were a few cuts and some additions to the UFC roster, mainly in the heavyweight division. '

With all the cuts thus far and Dean Lister's January ouster, two bullet points are being made by the powers-that-be: don't lose three consecutive fights and don't be boring if you do.

Here's looking at the comings and goings in the UFC for December 2008:

The Cuts

Roan Carneiro

He's a 30-year-old middleweight and is a black belt in BJJ. Despite a 12-6 record, Carneiro (seen left) was cut in December after compiling a 2-3 record in the UFC.

Debuting with a unanimous decision victory over Rich Clementi at April 2007's UFN 17, Carneiro followed up with a submission loss to Jon Fitch two months later.

After defeating Tony DeSouza via TKO (punches) at UFC 79, he lost two in a row to Kevin Burns and Ryo Chonan, the latter this past September at UFC 88.

He will be joining up with the new World Cagefighting Alliance and battling Paul Bradley in February. Coincidentally, Marcus Aurelio, who was cut by UFC in November, will also compete for the WCA.

Jess Liaudin: The French lightweight is looking for a place to throw punches as he was cut by the UFC last month. The 5-foot-9 155-pounder is 12-11 and has been in the UFC since April 2007.

After taking home wins in his first two octagon battles against Dennis Siver and Anthony Torres, Liaudin dropped three in a row to Marcus Davis (first-round KO), Paul Taylor (split decision) and David Bielkheden at October's UFC 89. Liaudin never competed for UFC in the U.S., as all of his fights were in Europe.

The Additions

Stefan Struve

The complete rebuilding of the UFC's heavyweight division is nearly complete with the addition of Struve. He inked a four-fight deal in December and will debut at UFC 95 in February in London. Just 20 years old, Struve has racked up a 16-2 record since 2005 and will face Junior Dos Santos (7-1).

Neil Grove

This isn't just a copy-and-paste, but Grove (seen right) is another addition to the heavyweight ranks and he also is expected to debut at UFC 95.

The 6-foot-7 Goliath is a perfect 7-1 and fights out of London. What you need to know? All seven wins have come via KO or TKO, and his last fight was in December against James McSweeney, a second-round TKO.

Interestingly enough, Grove was set to fight Mustafa Al-Turk for the English-based Cage Rage, but that fight never happened. You'll remember Al-Turk from his loss to Cheick Kongo at UFC 92.

Steve Steinbeiss

This came in the final few days of November, but we'll sneak it in here.

The light heavyweight is already under a Zuffa contract, but was competing in the WEC until the recent folding of the division.

He has three fights left in his deal and lost his first WEC contest to Carmelo Marrero in November via split decision. The 6'3" Hooligan has a 4-2 record.

Nissen Osterneck

Osterneck (5-1) is also a Zuffa transfer, coming in to battle in the UFC's middleweight division. Osterneck lost in his WEC debut to Jake Rosholt via second-round TKO in an entertaining fight at November's WEC event.

Josh Nason - josh [at] ropesringandcage [dot com] - has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. If you are using any content or recapping from this site, please include a link to www.ropesringandcage.com. Thank you for your support!