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With a total of well over 400 fighters on its roster, right now, the UFC is home to more fighters than ever before, with more seemingly signing for the promotion every month.
The amount of fighters now competing in the UFC means that it’s very easy to forget about certain athletes, even highly exciting ones, if they don’t step into the octagon for a while.
Right now there are a number of fighters on the promotion’s roster that we haven’t heard from in a while. Given that some of them are high-level contenders, fans can only hope that this will change in the near future.
Here are five UFC stars that we haven’t heard from in a while.
#5. Gregor Gillespie – UFC lightweight
Whenever the UFC’s most dangerous lightweight contenders are spoken about, a predictable list of names usually comes to mind, with the likes of Islam Makhachev, Beneil Dariush and Michael Chandler firmly at the forefront.
However, despite being ranked as the No.8 lightweight fighter in the world right now, one name that doesn’t tend to crop up is Gregor Gillespie. In fact, it’s fair to say that it’s been a while since anyone heard from ‘The Gift’ at this point.
The last time Gillespie stepped into the octagon was back in May 2021, when he defeated Carlos Diego Ferreira in the second round via TKO. The win earned the former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion a $50k bonus, but since then, he has not even been linked to a fight.
Quite why this is is anyone’s guess, as there have been no reports of Gillespie suffering an injury or getting into a contract dispute with Dana White and company.
Perhaps the best explanation is that, despite his talents, ‘The Gift’ has never been the most vocal fighter on the roster when it comes to climbing the ladder into title contention. Add this to the fact that on paper, he’s a nightmare match for many of the promotion’s 155lbers and it’s no surprise that not many want to talk about him.
However, Arman Tsarukyan has repeatedly called Gillespie out and accused 'The Gift' of turning him down. If that's the case, it's no wonder the UFC isn't in a rush to grant someone who's turned down fights a matchup.
With any luck, though, Gillespie will return to action later in 2022. If he can continue on his current path, then the lightweight division will have another very viable title contender competing in the octagon.
#4. Doo Ho Choi – UFC featherweight
At one point a few years ago, the UFC’s featherweight division had few hotter fighters than Doo Ho Choi. With a tremendous 11-1 record to his name, ‘The Korean Superboy’ seemed destined for stardom when he signed with the promotion in late 2014.
Choi lived up to the hype early on, knocking out his first three opponents in violent fashion, but in truth, alarm bells should’ve been ringing even then. Despite impressing in the octagon, it took him three years to complete his first three bouts, suggesting he was somewhat injury prone.
‘The Korean Superboy’ suffered his first octagon loss in December 2016, falling against Cub Swanson in a tight decision, but the fight was so good that nobody really cared about the loss.
However, Choi then spent over a year on the shelf with injuries before returning to lose to Jeremy Stephens in early 2018.
Another year then passed by before his most recent bout, a December 2019 loss to Charles Jourdain. Since then, ‘The Korean Superboy’ has not been in action, with the last fight he was linked with being cancelled last July.
The likelihood is that Choi is injured yet again. While he’s still got time to turn things around – he’s only 30 years old, after all – it seems unlikely that he’ll live up to his early hype even if he does manage to return in the near future.
#3. Dominick Reyes – UFC light heavyweight contender
It seems like a lifetime has passed since Dominick Reyes pushed Jon Jones to the limit in their UFC light heavyweight title bout. Incredibly, the clash only took place just over two years ago.
At that point, it seemed inconceivable that Reyes would never hold gold inside the promotion, especially as Jones chose to vacate the title rather than rematch ‘The Devastator’ in the summer of 2020. However, to say things haven’t gone to plan since would be an understatement.
Reyes was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz in their fight for the vacant title that September. Since then, he’s fought just once, suffering a horrendous knockout at the hands of Jiri Prochazka last May.
Since then, fans have heard very little from ‘The Devastator’, to the point that he isn’t even recognized as a title contender any more despite still being ranked as the UFC’s No.7 light heavyweight.
So where is Reyes? The most likely answer is that he’s still recuperating from two bad knockout losses. If that’s the case, then he’s probably being very smart.
‘The Devastator’ is still just 32 years old and given that his division’s current champ, Glover Teixeira, is over a decade older, there’s no reason why he can’t get back to the top in the future.
However, if he wants to do that, then he’ll need to stop taking so much damage. To sit out for a while and wait until he’s completely healed makes total sense. Essentially then, it wouldn’t be a shock at all if we don’t hear anything from Reyes until 2023.
#2. Stipe Miocic – former UFC heavyweight champion
While there was some talk around the potential for Stipe Miocic to hang up his gloves following his UFC heavyweight title loss to Francis Ngannou just over a year ago, there has been no retirement announcement from the former champion yet.
Despite this, Miocic has not fought since, nor has he been linked with another fight in the year that followed his defeat. So what’s going on with the most decorated heavyweight in UFC history?
The most likely answer is probably nothing. It’s a well-known fact that Miocic still works actively as a firefighter in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Despite his success in the octagon, he likely only ever saw his MMA career as a side project of sorts.
Given that there were plenty of rumors that Miocic was looking for a fight with Jon Jones, who still hasn’t made his long-awaited heavyweight debut, it seems likely that the former champion is simply biding his time for the promotion to offer him a fight that makes sense.
At this stage, the 39-year-old former champ probably doesn’t feel the need to fight younger contenders or chase the title again. So, despite some observers suggesting a clash with Curtis Blaydes, it’s likely he’ll remain on the shelf until a big fight comes around.
Therefore, fans probably shouldn’t expect to hear anything from Miocic until that fight materializes, if it ever does.
#1. Zabit Magomedsharipov – UFC featherweight contender
It’s probably fair to argue that just over two years ago, the fighter with the most hype around him in the UFC’s featherweight division was Zabit Magomedsharipov.
The Dagestani had reeled off six wins in the octagon to take his overall MMA record to 18-1 and it was hard not to view him in the same light as his countryman Khabib Nurmagomedov had once been seen – as a surefire future champion.
Essentially, it didn’t look like ‘Za-Beast’ had any weaknesses whatsoever. His wrestling game looked fantastic, he possessed a nasty submission game and his striking, based around his lanky reach, also seemed hard to stop.
However, while his win over Calvin Kattar in late 2019 seemed to push him into title contention, it would actually prove to be his final bout in the octagon for a lengthy period of time.
Since then, Zabit has not fought in the promotion, nor has he even been linked with a fight in the near future despite suggestions that he’d be ready to return in the early part of 2022.
It’s hard to really confirm what’s been going on with the Dagestani, although rumors in 2021 suggested that he’s been fighting a serious health issue relating to his immune system.
With this considered, while it’s hopeful that he’ll return soon, his future remains a question mark, explaining why it’s been so long since fans have heard anything concrete from him.
