After appearing as though the "Barncat" used his one of his nine lives and dodged potential walking papers from the UFC, Tamdan McCrory has, in fact, been released by the organization.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) passed along the news on Thursday that McCrory had been cut. But in a Yahoo! Sports story that was syndicated here on MMAjunkie.com earlier today, Kevin Iole cited UFC president Dana White as saying McCrory (and Thales Leites) would remain with the organization.
However, according to mixedmartialarts.com, which is co-owned by McCrory's manager, the fighter has has, in fact, been released from the UFC's roster. MMAjunkie.com has since confirmed Leites, too, remains released from the organization.
"It seems that the story was not an exact representation of the conversation between White and Iole, but seemingly an honest misinterpretation," the mixedmartialarts.com report read. "As it stands, McCrory will not have his next fight inside the UFC octagon but has been fielding offers from other organizations and may start to work his way up to the middleweight division."
McCrory and Leites were notified earlier this week that each had been released from the organization. According to a new report from Iole, White on Thursday planned to reinstate the two fighters, but after discussing the matter internally, today ultimately decided to let them go.
MMAjunkie.com spoke to a representative for McCrory earlier today. He was aware of the Yahoo! Sports report but cautioned that neither he nor McCrory had heard anything directly.
"We're not ready to jump for joy until the UFC calls," he said at the time.
That call, unfortunately, never came. Not until the fighter earns some victories outside the organization, anyway, and earns his way back into the UFC.
McCrory, a 22-year-old who began his pro career with a 9-0 record in just 12 months, ultimately went 3-3 in the UFC. At UFC 101, after a tough weight cut, he suffered a split-decision loss to John Howard in a featured preliminary-card bout.
The fighter will continue fielding offers from other organizations. As we stated in our report earlier today, one organization that has already contacted McCrory is the China-based Art of War promotion, which had already lined up a date and opponent for the New York-based fighter.
Additionally, McCrory is considering a move to the middleweight division, and the fighter's camp plans to contact Strikeforce, which boasts a solid 185-pound roster, about the possibility of a deal.
Leites, meanwhile, should also have plenty of offers. The Brazilian fighter fought for the UFC middleweight title just four months ago, but after a lackluster loss to champ Anderson Silva and a decision defeat to Alessio Sakara this past weekend at UFC 101, he was trimmed from the roster, as well.
Leites leaves the UFC with a 14-3 record and a 5-3 mark in the UFC.I heard the
Leites fight was awful and the fans boo'd like crazy, 2 fights like that in a row, and defeats no less, not surprised he got cut.
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