UFC cuts Rich Clementi and Luigi Fioravanti .
Well that sucks... Clementi submitted Anthony Johnson and I'll always be a fan for the Mevlin fight.
about 3 years ago
Nick Thomas
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Fioravanti is gone too. The culling has begun.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
Add Christian Wellisch and Eddie Sanchez to the list.
It’s weird that they’re willing to cut these heavyweights. The division is very shallow (globally as well as in the UFC) so one would think that these guys would be cherished a little more. Perhaps they’ve got new heavyweights they intend to sign?
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 10, 2009 2:52 AM EST up reply actions
Wellisch’s last fight was at 205 and Eddie Sanchez recently lost to Justin McCully.
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by Richard Wade on Feb 10, 2009 2:56 AM EST up reply actions
Wellisch’s last fight against O’Brien was at 205? I have to admit I have not paid too much attention to his career. Thanks for the heads up.
And Eddie lost to Hardonk before his loss to McCully, nonetheless with the weakness of the division, I would have thought they might keep him around for another fight. He was an effective gauge for heavyweights entering the UFC: if you didn’t beat him, you got the boot. I figured that they would have matched him up against Al-Turk or Stojnic in a loser goes home style match.
It’s hardly a giant news piece or a great injustice against the integrity of the sport, but with the state that the heavyweight division is in, I’m surprised almost anytime someone is cut from the UFC’s heavyweight division.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 10, 2009 3:11 AM EST up reply actions
Wellisch was rightfully cut. Sanchez should have gotten a fight against Stojnic, IMO.
by Michaelthebox on Feb 10, 2009 3:49 AM EST up reply actions
Wow...
I was surprised to see Clementi get let go. He was always willing to jump in and take a fight on short notice. He was never going to be a superstar but he seemed like the kind of guy that would have a career as long as he wanted.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 9, 2009 5:00 PM EST reply actions
Agreed; seemed like a real company guy, and his fights were usually interesting at least. He got bullied by a stronger opponent, but still… it’s kinda crazy.
I think the writing was on the wall for Fioravanti. His fights were boring.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Feb 9, 2009 5:22 PM EST up reply actions
While I get it (2-Losses Rule), I’m kinda upset – he was always a game opponent (except when being smothered by Maynard), and he was part of my “Bring UFC to Louisiana” plan.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Feb 9, 2009 5:02 PM EST reply actions
I suppose Houston Alexander gets the “4-losses” clause? ;)
by Scott Haber on Feb 10, 2009 12:37 AM EST up reply actions
People like watching him fight...
which always buys you a few extra losses. No one was dying to watch Rich fight, he was a very nice undercard fill-in guy and someone I would have liked to see stick around for a while. But he doesn’t have the same draw as Houston
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 10, 2009 10:02 AM EST up reply actions
He certainly has a lot of middle to lose. He could be much better at that weight. He is awful short for 170
He’s just not very good. He has slow and looping hands that aren’t really a threat to anyone. His wrestling is decent against the guys with no takedown defense and his jiu jitsu is enough to let him survive against some opponents but overall he’s just not UFC callibre.
I doubt he could drop the weight anyway when he had trouble making 170 and even if he did I doubt he’d be very effective.
It's odd...
because he shows up sometimes and his hands look good but most of the time, yeah…they’re slow and the technique isn’t there.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 10, 2009 10:03 AM EST up reply actions
Before his loss to Maynard, Clementi had won four straight UFC fights. I’m sure he’ll land on his feet, but that is another cut that is hard to justify when you’re bring in 0-0 guys and other talent that is generally not worthy of being in the UFC. It seems like they’re eliminating non-draws like Clementi to make room for guys like Efrain Escudero and Tom Egan who may not be nearly as good, but have some kind of useful fanbase.
by smoogy on Feb 9, 2009 5:21 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
0-0 guys are far cheaper than Clementi, and 0-0 guys usually don’t get signed unless A) they already have a fanbase IE: Matt Riddle B) Are from some foreign country in which the UFC plans to hold shows in. I guess the UFC could of kept Rich around to be a gatekeeper but Guida’s already got a stranglehold on that position. I am not shocked at either of these cuts, neither guy was all that exciting, I can’t remember a time where I said, “Boy I can’t wait to see that Rich Clementi fight!” I mean the guy is solid competition but like I said, his fights aren’t all that crowd pleasing and he really doesn’t have any potential to get better. I’d rather see the UFC use the money he was paid to sign a couple high potential/low experience guys.
wouldn’t be surprised to see clementi pick up a win on a smaller show, and get invited back. it’s happened with him before, right?
Dammit!
I liked Clementi :( Especially, as you say, from the Guillard fight. I was out of my seat happy at the end of that one.
Ah well, hopefully someone else picks him up.
I am a little mixed on Clementi. He was a decent fighter and I figured they would at least have him fight Guillard again.
Floravanti just isn’t a ww in today’s mma, imo.
Hopefully these guys can cash in on their time in the UFC when they go to another promotion.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
Wow. That sucks. Rich fought. Plain and simple, he fought. I really expect him and Luigi to return very shortly. Luigi won 3 of his past 5 fights, so I am a little shocked to see him out as well. But yet Manny Gamburyan (who should be 145 in the WEC) Ryan Jansen and Matt Arroyo is still on the roster.
Too man guys....
Too many guys that can fill the roles these 2 filled. The UFC, as many shows as they are putting on, have a ton of guys and they need spots to put them in.
If these 2 can win some bigger fights outside the UFC they can work their way back in. I still think Luigi needs to cut to 55 if at all possible. He looks very soft at 170.
I actually know Luigi a little bit when he used to train out of the now-defunct “Knockout Fitness” in Orlando.
Although I found him somewhat unapproachable (he has a close knit group of friends), I wish him the best. I’m sure that he can make some good coin in another promotion—perhaps Strikeforce or maybe even Affliction. He’s still young and can be improve — and he might end up back in the UFC at some point.
Making a living as an MMA Fighter isn’t easy. So best of luck to both of these guys.
Clementi always intrigued me, he seemed to have a real respect for the sport and a willingness to learn all aspects of the game. Great presence, good fights and seemed to be a good guy. Tibau looked twice his size, I agree that Clementi will land somewhere and find success, I just hope he can find a good showcase for his skills and fighting spirit.
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![Scouting Report Update: Weekend Results - April 29th-30th
It was another week of mixed results for fighters selected in the World MMA Scouting Report. #2 Featherweight Taiki Tsuchiya was knocked out by Shooto stalwart and former Champion "Lion" Takeshi Inoue at Shooto Tradition 2011 in Japan. Meanwhile, #6 Lightweight Reza Madadi came away with a controversial decision victory over UFC regular Rich Clementi in what turned out to be a bitterly contested title fight in Madadi's home country of Sweden. During the staredown at the weigh-ins, Clementi responded to an overly aggressive Madadi with a hard headbutt attempt that thankfully missed it's target.
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April 29th:
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