8 Fighters Released from the UFC, Including Former WEC Champ Brian Bowles

The UFC's massive stable of fighters shrunk slightly Tuesday when the promotion released eight fighters, including former WEC bantamweight champ Brian Bowles, per a report from Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.

Aside from Bowles, the other former UFC fighters who received their walking papers were Stanislav Nedkov, Andy Ogle, Akira Corassani, Humberto Brown, Rodolfo Rubio, Juan Puig and Tim Gorman.

Of the eight fighters who were cut, none seemed to make more sense for the UFC than Bowles.

Not only has Bowles been finished in each of his last two bouts, but he was also arrested on Jan. 14 and slapped with multiple drug charges and an additional charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Bowles won his first two fights in the UFC before being guillotined in the second round by Urijah Faber and TKO'd in the second round by George Roop in his last two fights.

Felipe Dana/Associated Press

Nedkov, who entered the UFC with an 11-0 mark, tasted defeat in two of his last three fights. He only eluded a submission loss against Thiago Silva at UFC on Fuel TV 6 because the decision was overturned after the Brazilian tested positive for marijuana in a post-fight drug screen.

After earning a unanimous-decision win over Josh Grispi at UFC on Fuel TV 7, Ogle dropped four straight fights in the promotion, including an eight-second TKO loss to Makwan Amirkhani in his last outing.

Akin to the Bowles' situation, few fans should seem surprised over the UFC's decision to let go of Corassani. After all, the Swedish-born featherweight essentially announced his retirement after suffering his third straight KO/TKO loss in January.

Puig got cut after getting knocked out in back-to-back fights by Adriano Martins and Doo Ho Choi. Sadly for Brown, Rubio and Gorman, they each got their pink slips after losing in their promotional debuts.