The UFC are cuttin ties with one of their most promising prospects, according to Dana White.
With Ryan Bader looking likely to go to Bellator, the last thing the UFC's light heavyweight division needed was to lose another ranked fighter, particularly one that caught the eye of the next title challenger to Daniel Cormier's throne.
"Besides DC, the one guy that has my attention is - what's his name - Misha mishka? Yeah, that dude's a beast. I like his style and he's built like a brick house, you know what I mean? I think his ass is gangster."
The man whose name Anthony Johnson was struggling to pronounce on a recent episode of the MMA Hour was Misha Cirkonov. While fans were hoping the Canadian fighter would be swiftly re-signed by the UFC after his contract ended and he was removed from the official rankings, it would take a minor miracle for that to happen.
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Cirkunov is undefeated in the UFC, with all of those victories coming by way of finish. He is riding an eight-fight win-streak and with the world's largest fight promotion lacking contenders in the their 205 lb division, many saw Cirkunov as a fighter who could be challenging for a title before the year's end.
However, Dana White confirmed to
The Sports Network that the promotion has walked away from contract negotiations with Cirkunov after they stalled. He fired a bullet straight to the back of the head of any speculation that he may re-sign by announcing that he's done with Cirkunov.
"I met with Misha and his wife, good people and everything else, but he ended up really flaking out on the deal. So I'm not interested."
"Yeah, yeah, I’m done. He knows I'm done. You'll see him somewhere, but it won't be here."
Unsurprisingly, the news hasn't gone down well with fight fans.
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