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Fighters come and go in the UFC all the time, and some cuts from the organization are swift and unexpected. Charlie Brenneman, who has had a 4-4 run, was released yesterday, in a surprising turn of events. He's beaten some very tough opponents, most notably, Rick Story. All of his wins within the UFC were well fought, gritty fights, and all received unanimous nods from the judges. His last two fights may have been losses, but they were quick finishes, and seemed to be a matter of "getting caught", as some would term it. In my most humble opinion, this seems like an overly hasty cut.
Charlie took to Twitter this morning, to make his fans aware of the change in his career path. I reached out to him, and got a short interview for our readers. Here's what he had to say:
Basically, I realized after my last fight that I wasn't in a good situation. A week had passed, and yesterday I got a call from my manager/trainer, Mike Constantino. He just said it as succinctly as possible, which is how I prefer it, 'It's not good, you're cut.'
There's nothing really to say. I kind of made my own bed, and I hope to get another chance. I lost to Kyle Noke, and when someone says, 'You got caught early', I have to counter that by saying that I shouldn't have left him the opening to hit me. That's just the way it goes.
I'm not closing the book on anything. The UFC is where I want to be, and it's where I will be again. I give up a lot to fight. I don't live with my wife. I live in New Jersey so I can devote myself to training, when all my family lives in Pennsylvania. It's not a question of drive and passion. I have plenty of that. When that drive naturally expires, then I'll think about stopping.
We spoke about other organizations he might be interested in fighting for, and Ray Sefo's World Series of Fighting was first on the list of possibilities.
My personal thing, and the way I'm looking at this, is I've been there, I've done it, and I sure as heck want to do it again, but equally important, is that I have a vision of me that I want to be in the cage, and that's what I'm striving for. When I reach that, I'll seek out the UFC again.
It just happened, and I hadn't really thought a lot about it, but The World Series of Fighting or Titan seem like great opportunities because they're new and they're fresh, and they would value someone like me. Those are possibilities. There are also some great shows in New Jersey and all across Pennsylvania. They're not as big, but that is my home state. I'm open to offers, for sure. I'm mature, and I've been around the block long enough to know that things work out, one way or the other. I have my health, my family, and my wife. It could be worse.
You can follow Charlie via his Twitter account, @SpaniardMMA
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