UFC fighter gets contract terminated after just one fight with the promotion

Russian lightweight and former M-1 Global lightweight champion, Roman Bogatov has been released by the UFC after just one fight in the UFC.

Roman Bogatov (10-1 in MMA, 0-1 in UFC), signed with the promotion back in November 2019. He made his debut at UFC 251 as he lost a unanimous decision against Leonardo Santos. Roman Bogtov got two points deducted for landing multiple illegal blows in the same round.

Roman Bogatov's contract with the UFC has been terminated after one fight in which he hit his opponent with 3 or 4 illegal strikes.Roman: "They told me today they had terminated the contract"#UFC #MMA #WMMA #TeamMMA4LIFE #MMATwitter pic.twitter.com/ekEVZ6UT9b

— The People's MMA 🦈 (@ThePeoplesMMA) August 8, 2020

Roman Bogatov's first fight inside the octagon became his las

Things went south pretty quickly for the formerly unbeaten Russian, who was deducted two points after committing numerous fouls during the bout. After landing two low blows, Roman Bogatov then struck a downed Santos in the head with an illegal knee, prompting referee Marc Goddard to issue two points sanction.

There were three separate instances of Roman Bogatov hitting Santos with foul shots, including knee strikes below the belt right to his groin and then a knee to the face while his opponent was on one knee up against the cage.

"Woah... What are you doing?" the official shouted, before saying, "How many times?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"After a series of illegal strikes by Roman Bogatov, referee @marcgoddard_uk asks the obvious question... #UFC251 pic.twitter.com/3sXMYr1SLi

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) July 12, 2020

Roman Bogatov went on to lose the fight by unanimous decision, 29-26 on all three judges’ scorecards, a fight he would have lost regardless of the point deductions, but Bogatov could easily have been disqualified.

Bogatov joins former UFC flyweight title challenger Ray Borg as the second fighter to be released by the UFC in the past week.

UFC president Dana White previously denied reports that Bogatov was released but the fighter, along with his manager, Sayat Abdrakhmanov, have confirmed the termination was in relation to the low blows displayed inside the Octagon.

"Yes, they told me today they had terminated the contract," Bogatov told TASS.

The Russian fighter will be disappointed to see his UFC career ended in this way. He joined the organization with an impressive undefeated record of 10-0.

Also, he was the global lightweight champion in his previous organization M-1, in his native country of Russia. His record at M-1 was 8-0.

Roman Bogatov is not the first fighter to be released for illegal strikes in UFC history. Previously, current Bellator welterweight contender Paul Daley had been released by the promotion for sucker-punching Josh Koscheck after the fight ended.

Rousimar Palhares, a former middleweight contender, had also served the same fate as he used to hold on to his submissions for too long after his opponents have tapped.

This will come as a huge blow in the young Russian's career though.