The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has made two final cuts in 2024.
This past weekend (Sat., Dec. 21, 2024), UFC Roster Watch revealed that Welterweight Jared Gooden and Middleweight Abu Azaitar were released from their respective contracts, and the promotion decided not to extend them.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Gooden (23-10) has now received his walking papers from the UFC for the second time. His first stint in the promotion, which took place from 2020 to 2021, saw him go 1-3, losing to Alan Jouban, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, and Randy Brown.
“Nite Train” returned to the regional scene and scored four wins before getting invited back to the UFC; however, it went disastrously as he missed weight twice. He originally missed weight against Brown during his first go-round.
The 31-year-old lost to Carlston Harris in his return fight but did manage to score a Performance of the Night against Wellington Turman, tapping him out. In his most recent outing, he suffered a lackluster unanimous decision loss to Chidi Njokuani, which ultimately sealed his fate.
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Azaitar, 38, was plagued by inactivity, likely contributing to his release. “Captain Morocco” made his debut back in 2018 but only fought two more times—once at UFC 260 in 2021, where he was stopped by Marc-Andre Barriault, and in his final UFC fight, he lost a forgettable unanimous decision to Sedriques Dumas at UFC 294.
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