Win Or Go Home: 5 UFC Fighters Fighting For Their Jobs

With the addition of around 40 WEC fighters, jobs in the UFC are going to be harder to maintain. Notable fighters such as Keith Jardine, Effrain Escudero, Todd Duffee, Patrick Cote and Gabriel Gonzaga have been released in the last few months, proving that the UFC has no problem cutting a fighter if he doesn’t produce.

Several more UFC veterans are fighting with their jobs on the line in their next bouts as well. A two or three-fight losing streak spells disaster with so many more fighters waiting to steal your spot on the main card.  

Here are five fighters (one from each division) who will likely lose their jobs with another loss.

5. Roy Nelson

Hardcore fans pegged Nelson as the favorite when the cast of The Ultimate Fighter 10 was announced, and Nelson did what was expected and won the show. This didn’t come without controversy however, as Nelson was open about his desire to take no chances and essentially lay and pray his way to victory in order to make the finals. This drew criticism from both Dana White and his coach Rashad Evans.

After knocking out Brendan Schaub in the finale of TUF 10, Nelson fought up and coming heavyweight Stefan Struve at UFC Fight Night 21 and won by first round knockout, establishing himself as a top guy in the heavyweight division. He faced a huge step up in competition at UFC 117 in heavyweight contender and knockout artist Junior dos Santos.

Nelson was thoroughly outclassed by dos Santos on the feet, and was unable to get the fight to the ground to use his superior jujitsu skills. Although Nelson lost the figh,  his ability to take several solid shots from dos Santos added to his already growing fanbase.

Although he is a top fighter in the heavyweight division, Nelson is in danger of being cut if he loses his next fight. His perceived disrespectful attitude toward UFC President Dana White may end up costing him his job.

4. Paulo Thiago

Paulo Thiago shocked the world at UFC 95 by knocking out Josh Koscheck in the first round, setting the UFC chat rooms on fire. Due to the unexpected nature of the knockout (and a general dislike for Koscheck) people started jumping on the Paulo Thiago bandwagon.

Joe Silva did Paulo no favors however, and threw him into a fight with the most consistant fighter in the UFC, Jon Fitch. As many predicted, Fitch’s top control was too much for Thiago, and he walked away with a unanimous decision (go figure) at UFC 100. Thiago then defeated Jacob Volkmann by unanimous decision at UFC 106 and submitted Koscheck’s AKA teammate Mike Swick in the second round.

Thiago then went on to fight Martin Kampminn at UFC 115 and lost a one-sided decision. He looked to rebound against Diego Sanchez at UFC 121 and easily won the first round, but ran out of gas and Sanchez came back to win Rounds 2 and 3.

Thiago has dropped two straight and another loss could earn him his walking papers.   

3. Brandon Vera

Winning your first four UFC fights is a tough task, but when one of those fights is against Frank Mir, your job has been made a whole lot harder. Vera rose to the challenge and earned a first round TKO victory over the former UFC champion.

The win over Mir gained Vera a new legion of fans, who assured that he was the next big thing in the UFC. Vera himself actually said he was going to win both the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles. Unfortunatly, Vera never capitalized on his potential and lost back to back fights to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum at UFC 77 and 85, ending his heavyweight career and convincing him he needed to move down to 205 lbs.

Vera’s light heavyweight debut was lackluster, but he did win a decision against a glorified punching bag in Reese Andy. He then lost to Keith Jardine by split decision and tumbled back down the LHW rankings. After back to back wins over Mike Patt and Krzysztof Soszynski, Vera selected to welcome Randy Couture back to the 205 lb weight class.

Afterlosing a controversial decision to Couture, Vera faced a fighter who was being hyped much like he was in Jon Jones. Jones ran through Vera, breaking his orbital bone in his face and putting him out of action for nine months.

Vera will fight Thiago Silva at UFC 125 to try and avoid his third straight loss.

2. Tyson Griffin

Tyson Griffin had two marquee wins over Duane Ludwig and Urijah Faber before even entering the UFC. Griffin won his first fight under the UFC banner, easily defeating David Lee and picking up a Submission of the Night check in the process.

Griffin then lost a close fight to Frankie Edgar at UFC 67, but drew heavy praise from UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who said he wouldn’t be surprised if a rematch between the two was for the UFC Lightweight title. Griffin then went on a four fight win streak, including a win over Clay Guida, before losing a decision to Sean Sherk in a fight with a Lightweight title shot likely on the line.

Griffin rebounded with his first stoppage victory in almost three years with a knockout of Hermes Franca at UFC 103. After being forced out of a UFC 108 bout with Jim Miller due to injury, Griffin returned and lost a decision to lightweight prospect Evan Dunham. Vowing to return quickly, Griffin did so and was promptly knocked out by Takanori Gomi in the first round of their fight at UFC on Versus 2. It was the first stoppage loss of his career.

Griffin will likely fight for his job against Nik Lentz at UFC 123 in November.

1. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Akiyama entered the UFC with a ton of hype and was thrown into the fire immediately with the opening bout on the historic UFC 100 card. Akiyama won a controversial split decision over middleweight contender Alan Belcher and then turned down several fights, waiting for a bout with Wanderlei Silva.

It looked like Akiyama was finally going to get his wish almost a full year later at UFC 116, but a mere two weeks before the fight, Silva was forced off of the card with an injury. Akiyama’s opponent was changed to Chris Leben and the two put on a Fight of the Year contender, with wild back and forth striking exchanges before Akiyama submitted to a late third round triangle choke.

With the UFC needing a main event for UFC 120 in London, Sexiyama stepped up and battled hometown favorite Michael Bisping, but once again came up short. Akiyama stunned Bisping early in the contest, but The Count recovered and out-pointed the Japanese fighter.

With two straight losses and his only win being a very close decision, Akiyama will need a win in his next fight in order to justify bringing Sexy back into the Octagon.