JamBlog

MMA is a cut-throat industry with fighters regularly dropped from promotions following poor performances.

The UFC is top of the tree and is particularly renowned for cutting fighters for losing three straight.

That’s not the only way to lose your job in the promotion, though, with others having contracts torn up for drug violations and various other infractions.

There are a select few who have been banned from the UFC for life, with president Dana White going out of his way to say they will never fight for him again.

Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov escaped such punishments despite being involved in serious incidents.

McGregor attacked a bus at a UFC event and was also filmed punching a man at an Irish bar.

Nurmagomedov jumped into the crowd following his win over McGregor to confront the Irish fighter’s entourage.

The pair are still the poster boys of the promotion but there are others who have got on the wrong side of White and never returned...

Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley

Daley was a rising star of the UFC back in 2010 but a furious Dana White banned him following an incident at UFC 113 in Montreal.

He sucker-punched Josh Koscheck after losing in their welterweight bout and White has stuck to his word and never allowed ‘Semtex’ back in the promotion.

White said: “I don’t care if (Daley) fights in every show all over the world and becomes the best, and everybody thinks he is the pound-for-pond best in the world. he will never fight in the UFC again.”

Daley currently fights in Bellator and holds a career record of 42-17-2.

Rousimar Palhares

Palhares, like Daley, was told he would never fight in the UFC again because of his unsportsmanlike conduct in the octagon.

The Brazilian had a history of submitting other fighters but not releasing them even after they tapped out.

In 2010, he was suspended for 90 days following his UFC 111 win over Tomasz Drawl when he refused to let go of a heel hook.

The final straw came when he submitted Mike Pierce in 31 seconds in 2013 but again refused to let go.

Dana White immediately cut him and banned him from all future events.

He said: “This is the second incident we’ve had with Palhares. He had the lock and didn’t let go. Finally he let it go but I’m going to cut him too.”

When asked if he would ever fight in the UFC again, White said: “He’s done.”

Matt Riddle

Riddle had a four-fight win streak in the UFC before two positive drug tests put an end to his career in the promotion.

Although not officially banned, Dana White said he would never be back.

White said: “Everybody’s going to have an excuse of why they were cut. Matt Riddle did an interview before that fight where he said ‘I smoke weed so that I don’t beat my children’ then he tests positive for it. He’s a f****** moron.

“That’s why he’s not here. He’s cut because he’s a moron.

“I’ll make it real easy for him, we just won’t ask him (to come back).”

Riddle later moved into wrestling and is currently signed by the WWE and performs on the NXT brand.

Ruslan Magomedov

The Russian heavyweight was handed a life ban from the UFC following multiple doping violations.

His first sanction came in 2016, where he got a two-year ban, when he tested positive for a selective androgen receptor modulator designed to help muscle growth.

His second came in October 2018 when he tested positive for two steroid metabolites. The final straw came in February the following year when he refused to give a sample.

The USADA banned him for life, effectively making him never able to fight in the UFC again.

Jason High

Dana White comes down heavily on infractions after the bell or altercations with referees - and it was the latter that got High banned.

The fighter shoved referee Kevin Mulhall after disagreeing with a TKO stoppage in his bout against Rafael dos Anjos in 2014.

White said after the fight: “He’s cut. I’m going to cut him. I look at the way (Paul) Daley put his hands on his opponent after a fight was over.

“You don’t ever, ever f****** touch a referee, ever. You’re done here. He’s been apologising on Twitter, but he’s done here.”

Thiago Silva

The UFC veteran was cut from the promotion following a serious incident in Florida where he allegedly threatened his estranged wife with a gun. It ended with a four-hour standoff with a S.W.A.T team before he surrendered.

Following his arrest, Dana White said Silva ‘will never fight in the UFC again’ due to the incident.

All criminal charges were later dropped but he still never fought in the promotion again.

BJ Penn

Penn is a legend in UFC and a former lightweight champion. He first fought in the promotion back in 2001 and has done a lot for the sport’s popularity.

He should have retired long ago and lost his last seven straight fights, the last in May 2019, and hasn’t actually won since 2010.

When videos emerged of the 41-year-old being involved in a street fight in Hawaii, Dana White said that was it.

He said: “He won’t fight again, that’s it. That’s a wrap. It’s not even that this was the last straw.

“I didn’t love him continuing to fight anyway, but with the relationship that he and I have - he gets me on the phone, begging me for another fight. It’s hard to turn him down.

“After what I saw in that video, BJ needs to, you know, he needs to focus on his personal life before he thinks about fighting.”

Wanderlei Silva

Back in 2014, Silva was banned for life from the Nevada State Athletic Commission after running away from a random drug test.

Dana White said: “Nobody has ever run from a drug test before. I didn’t see a life ban coming. Nobody will let him fight. He’s in a very serious situation.

“There’s going to be no Hall of Fame. The guy’s been Pete Rose’d. There’s going to be no Hall of Fame offers.”

His lifetime ban was eventually overturned, but following comments about the UFC and ‘fight fixing’, he was released and has never returned.

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