Dana White Announces Big News – Says Lot of Fighters Will Be Let Go

The UFC has done a fairly commendable job of putting up shows every weekend, despite the ongoing pandemic. However, as 2020 draws to a close, Dana White has hinted that the roster will be sized down. Therefore, the UFC President believes that a lot of former champions and challengers will have to find another promotion if they wish to continue fighting.

At UFC 256, we witnessed former champion Junior dos Santos suffer his fourth straight loss via knockout. There was also former Strikeforce middleweight kingpin Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza who suffered a devastating knockout at the hands of rising contender Kevin Holland.

While Dos Santos is 36, Souza is already in his 40s. It looks as if ‘Father Time’ is catching up on these former staples of their divisions. The UFC supremo has never minced his words when saying that fighting is a young man’s game. Hence, it shouldn’t come up as a surprise if he lets go of some of these names by the end of the year.

“That’s every weekend. We’ll be talking about this next weekend too, after the fights. It’s just part of the sport. I think over the next, you know, between last year and next year you’re gonna see a lot of old big names moving on or retiring,” Dana White said at the post-fight press conference following UFC 256.

Dana White hints Junior dos Santos should consider hanging his gloves

A former UFC heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos has been a part of many heavyweight classics in his career. He even holds a win over current UFC heavyweight kingpin Stipe Miocic. In his fighting prime, Dos Santos possessed one of the best offensive boxing in the sport of MMA.

However, Dos Santos’ decline in the UFC has been rather sharp. His past four fights have been against younger competition who have found a way to somehow put his lights out. Given the spot that he is right now, White would recommend that he give his fighting future a lot of thought.

“I do,” was White’s short reply when he was asked if Dos Santos should think about not just the UFC, but about his fighting career as a whole.

White has already drawn attention after cutting perennial middleweight contender Yoel Romero earlier this month. He added that the UFC was looking at about sixty cuts before the end of the year. Therefore, it is highly likely that this was the last UFC outing for either Dos Santos or Souza or even both.

Read More: What Is Next for Junior Dos Santos?