For years, the UFC has been ruthless when it comes to cutting fighters from the promotion. But after entering its Paramount+ era, the company has seemingly become even more selective about who gets to stay, to the point where it has parted ways with contenders who were still close to title contention. Now, some of those fighters have finally opened up about the way in which their UFC exits unfolded.

Former UFC fighters Javid Basharat, Ketlen Vieira, and Daniel Marcos, all set to compete at the PFL Tampa event this Saturday, have shared their thoughts on being axed by the UFC. Starting with Basharat, who is set to face Movsar Ibragimov at Cris Cyborg’s retirement event, the Afghan-British fighter admitted that his departure from the promotion in February was surrounded by confusion.

“You know, I’m not going to speak about this now because it was really messy, honestly,” Basharat told MMA Fighting. “One day I’ll speak about it, but this is the first time I’m talking about it. It was one of the messiest things because my opponent missed weight, so it was my last fight on my contract. My opponent missed weight by five pounds, and then there were a couple of things that happened behind the scenes. It was just super messy.

“When it happened, I didn’t even know what to make of it, but, in a way, I didn’t even care because, honestly, it was nothing really in my control. A lot of miscommunication, and yeah, it was just one of those… It was a weird thing. Maybe I’ll go into detail with it later, but right now, I don’t really have all the facts myself, you know? So that’s why I don’t want to speak too much about it.”

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Basharat didn’t explain much about the messy situation surrounding his UFC exit, but it’s not hard to imagine that the muddle involves his contract situation. However, his departure from the promotion remains a surprise not only to him but also to many fans, who found the UFC’s decision to part ways with the 15-2 fighter rather strange.

The 30-year-old bantamweight was regarded as one of the division’s promising rising contenders and went 4-2 with one no-contest across seven UFC appearances. Indeed, that’s not a jaw-dropping record, but it’s also not something that would normally result in a release.

Basharat’s fighting style also made him an entertaining addition to the UFC roster. That was evident during his comeback victory over Gianni Vazquez at UFC Vegas 113 on February 7, a fight in which Vazquez had missed his weight. Despite that, the UFC apparently chose not to renew his contract.

Interestingly, Javid isn’t the only member of the Basharat family whose UFC future remains uncertain. His younger brother, Farid Basharat, also saw his UFC contract come to an end at UFC 329, and the promotion has yet to re-sign him.

Decoding why the UFC releases certain fighters can be difficult, as multiple factors can influence those decisions. One possibility is that the promotion is increasingly focused on bringing in fresh talent from Dana White’s Contender Series, particularly fighters who can generate excitement and capture the attention of a broader audience. In fact, we recently saw the Namo Fazil vs. Kaik Brito fight during DWCS Week 2 generate plenty of attention and hype.

However, Javid isn’t the only one who remains puzzled by his former promotion’s decision. Vieira and Marcos were also highly surprised and bewildered by Dana White and his company axing them.

Ketlen Vieira and Daniel Marcos still don’t understand why the UFC released them

Alongside Javid Basharat, another very surprising name the UFC cut from its roster was Ketlen Vieira. The Brazilian was ranked inside the top five when her UFC contract expired in late May, and the promotion chose not to retain her, bringing her decade-long run with the UFC to an end.

Vieira might have been even more upset by that decision because she had defeated Jacqueline Cavalcanti in her last UFC fight the same month and believed that, with just a few more steps, she could earn another title shot. Instead, Vieira became a free agent.

Even though Ketlen Vieira is now set to fight for the title against none other than women’s MMA legend Cris Cyborg in her retirement fight in PFL Tampa, she still finds it hard to believe that the UFC released her despite seemingly making a strong case for another title shot.

“I left the UFC as a winner,” Vieira said. “I left as a top-5 fighter, as a future title challenger, especially because all the other girls were coming off losses. It doesn’t really make sense because I was the only one coming off a win to be fighting for the title. Anyway, I’m very grateful to the UFC for everything it provided in my life. They gave me a name. In the morning, I received the [release] news, and by nighttime, another major event was already interested in me, so I can’t be ungrateful to the UFC or to everyone there who gave me the opportunity to change my life, and they did change my life. But today I’m focused on this new chance, this new opportunity in the PFL.”

Following Vieira, Daniel Marcos, who is set to face former UFC veteran Magomed Magomedov at PFL Tampa, also admitted that he was surprised by his UFC exit.

The Peruvian entered the UFC with an undefeated record and had suffered only one loss, against Montel Jackson at UFC Des Moines last year. He bounced back with a win over Miles Johns to improve his record to 18-1. Yet, that still wasn’t enough, and the promotion decided to release him in late May immediately after his contract ended.

“More than anything, I was surprised,” Marcos told MMA Fighting. “I asked myself, ‘Why? Why did this happen?’ I had only lost once in my entire career, so I didn’t understand what was going on. As I said, I can’t control what other people decide to do, but I’m still grateful to the UFC for giving me the opportunity and for helping showcase me to the world.”

Ultimately, the UFC’s recent roster decisions show just how unpredictable life inside the promotion can be. A fighter can have a strong record, remain ranked, or even be coming off a victory and still find themselves without a UFC contract. For fighters hoping to establish themselves in the promotion’s increasingly competitive landscape, winning may no longer be enough.