The UFC continues to downsize its roster, and this time the cuts came just days after one fighter was forced off an upcoming fight card.

According to Roster Watch, both Jesus Aguilar and Austen Lane have been removed from the UFC’s active roster, suggesting that the promotion either dropped them or declined to renew their contracts.

The timing surrounding Aguilar’s exit is especially surprising. The Mexican flyweight was booked to fight rising Japanese prospect Rei Tsuruya at UFC Macau this Saturday, but he pulled out of the bout a few days ago due to an undisclosed injury. Just five days later, he suddenly finds himself dropped off the roster entirely.

To many fans, Jesus Aguilar’s release will feel harsh, especially given that he showed signs of promise during his UFC run.

After getting his contract through Dana White‘s Contender Series in August 2022, he was immediately thrown into a brutal debut against current title contender Tatsuro Taira, a fight he lost by submission in the first round.

However, Aguilar recovered quickly, winning three consecutive fights, including a dramatic 17-second knockout of Shannon Ross in July 2023 that briefly made him look like one of the division’s more exciting prospects.

Unfortunately, the momentum faded quickly. The 30-year-old went 1-2 in his last three UFC fights, most recently losing a decision to Sumudaerji at UFC 326 in March. Now, he leaves the Dana White-led promotion with a decent UFC record of 4-3. While the case with Jesus Aguilar is disconcerting, it’s less perplexing when it comes to Austen Lane’s exit.

Despite his stature and athleticism, Austen Lane, a former NFL defensive end who previously was in franchises like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Chicago Bears before making his way to MMA, never fully realized his potential in the UFC.

His only UFC win came against Robelis Despaigne in October 2024, although the majority of his other fights ended in brutal fashion with him being in the receiving end. Losses to heavyweights like Justin Tafa, Jhonata Diniz, Vitor Petrino, and Mario Pinto eventually sealed his fate.

The 38-year-old tried to drop down to light heavyweight to rescue his UFC career earlier this year, but the move lasted only 28 seconds until Iwo Baraniewski knocked him out cold at UFC London. Now, he departs the UFC with a 1-5-1 record.

And these latest removals are just part of a much bigger UFC roster cleanup happening lately. Fighters such as Mayra Bueno Silva, Brad Riddell, and Nathan Fletcher were also released last week.

But the biggest exit was when former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington officially retired and disappeared from the roster after months of publicly criticizing the promotion, a move that left many fans and even Kamaru Usman stunned.

Kamaru Usman on Colby Covington’s sudden UFC retirement

Kamaru Usman seemed genuinely confused by Colby Covington suddenly walking away from the UFC, especially given how closely their careers became linked during one of the nastiest rivalries in modern MMA history.

Despite years of trash talk, title fights, and bad blood, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ admitted that Covington’s retirement caught him off guard.

The two first met in 2019, when Kamaru Usman defended his welterweight title against ‘Chaos’ at UFC 245, in what quickly became one of the division’s most memorable fights.

Usman eventually shattered Colby Covington’s jaw before finishing him late, and he defeated him again two years later to end their feud. Since then, though, the 38-year-old’s career has slowly stalled.

Speaking on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman admitted he believes there has been a growing disconnect between Covington and the Dana White-led promotion for a while now.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily as deep as saying he’s doing it out of spite for the White House card,” he said. “I don’t necessarily think it’s that deep. He has expressed his willingness to get in there and fight and be compensated the way he feels necessary.

“There’s a lot of unhappiness from not just Covington but a lot of athletes… There’s some type of disconnect between Covington and the UFC and why they can’t get him in there and why he’s not getting fights.”

Kamaru Usman also confessed that, despite their differences, Colby Covington was always the type of fighter who drew people’s attention when he competed. So the exit surely caught ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ by surprise.

“I have a long history with Colby, which is a really deep connecting history,” he added. “And so, for him, I don’t understand why (he’s retired).

“Any fight Covington is going to be in is going to be a fight that you wanna keep your eye on. More power to him, do what you do.”

Even though ‘Chaos’ has left the UFC roster, he is not completely done with combat sports, as he is all geared up to compete against Chris Weidman at RAF 9 later this weekend. However, the future plans of the other released UFC fighters remain a mystery for now.