Recapping the UFC Roster Cuts: February

Despite being the shortest month of the year, the UFC wasted no time in paring down their roster in February, cutting a pair of TUF veterans and a pair of military veterans as part of a seven-fight ground and pound to the roster.

Matt Arroyo

The 28-year-old Arroyo competed on the sixth season of TUF: Hughes vs. Serra, pulling out of his semifinal bout against eventual winner Mac Danzig with a rib injury (something that apparently didn't exist according to UFC President Dana White).

Arroyo (3-3) still got a shot at UFC glory, downing John Kolosci via a 1st round submission at that season's TUF finale show. However, a TKO loss to Matt Brown at the TUF 7 finale and a split decision loss to Dan Cramer at UFC 94 wasn't enough to justify keeping the 170-pounder on the roster.

Nate Mohr

The 25-year-old Illinois native has been with the UFC since April 2007, earning a shot after compiling a 7-3 record on regional shows. After debuting at UFN 9, with a submission loss to Kurt Pellegrino, Mohr took a unanimous decision over Luke Caudillo at UFN 10, but couldn't follow up, losing to Manny Gamburyan via submission at UFC 79 and sustaining a leg injury that kept him out of 2008 completely. He returned at January's UFC 93 with a 3rd round TKO loss to Dennis Siver and at 8-6, simply became too average to keep in a packed 155-pound division.

Reese Andy

A light heavyweight, Andy (7-4) was cut after just two fights following a 7-2 record forged mainly in the IFL. The three-time All-American in wrestling at the University of Wyoming debuted with a lackluster decision loss against Brandon Vera last July. He was then dispatched by Matt Hamill at UFC 92 in December. He never seemed to adjust to the level of competition and wasn't exciting enough to justify seeing him any further.

Derek Downey

This one wasn't as much a cut as rather the UFC choosing not to sign Downey to a contract. The 29-year-old got his opportunity against Nick Catone at UFN 17 due to Amir Sodallah's latest injury and lost via submission in the second round. The 10-4 185 pounder has been a pro since 2003 and Bloody Elbow did a nice writeup about his opportunity in the big time.

Luigi Fioravanti

I was disappointed in this one, as Fioravanti (14-5) was a very easy guy to root for given his military background. However, the American Top Team member never could get a good streak of more than two wins going and suffered losses to Jon Fitch, Diego Sanchez, and Anthony Johnson, the last being his final UFC fight. However, I'll always remember his unanimous decision win over Brodie Farber at the UFC Fight for The Troops event and how pumped he and the heavy military crowd were after his hand was raised.

Rich Clementi

The definition of a veteran, Clementi (seen right) has been a pro since the fall of '99 and made his UFC debut in '03 with a loss to Yves Edwards. After several years and different countries, Clementi got the call again in November 2006. After going just 1-2 in his next three fights, Clementi put together a six-fight win streak in both the UFC and regionals.

But two straight losses to Gray Maynard and then Gleison Tibau at UFN 17 sealed the 32-year-old's fate in the Octagon. However, I have a feeling we'll be seeing the 32-14-1 Clementi back in action again somewhere very soon. Like Fioravanti, Clementi is a former military member and even was a reservist after 9/11.

Troy Mandaloniz

Like Arroyo, the "Rude Boy" is a season six TUF alum and like Arroyo, found himself cut at the end of February. (Coincidentally, Mandaloniz lost to Arroyo in the quarterfinals of the show.) After defeating Richie Hightower on the night of the TUF 6 finale, he didn't fight again until February 20th, when he lost a unanimous decision to Paul Kelly at UFC 95. Mandaloniz is still a young fighter at 3-2, so there is plenty of time for him to get back on track.

But the UFC did make quite a few additions to their roster in February, which will cover in just a few days.

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!