John Dodson is officially gone from the UFC.
Coming off his UFC 252 loss against Merab Dvalishvili, The Ultimate Fighter 14 winner has been released from his contract. Ricky Kottenstette, who is Dodson’s manager, confirmed the news to MMA Fighting.
The release comes after a nine-year stint that saw the 35-year-old score impressive wins over top tier bantamweights such as T.J. Dillashaw (via first-round TKO at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale), Jussier Formiga (via TKO at UFC on FX 5), and Pedro Munhoz (via split decision at UFC 222). Dodson earned two title opportunities during his time in the flyweight division; however, he came up short against Demetrious Johnson on both occasions.
Since his unanimous decision loss to Johnson at UFC 191, Dodson’s hasn’t been able to capture the same string of wins in the bantamweight division as the TUF 14 winner failed to beat top contenders John Lineker (via split decision at UFC Fight Night 96), Petr Yan (via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 145), and Marlon Moraes (via split decision at UFC Fight Night 120).
Coming into his fight against Dvalishvili, Dodson had lost four out of his last six bouts, with the bantamweight not appearing in the top division rankings for quite some time now. There’s no word on what the future holds for the veteran. Dodson exits the promotion with a record of 21 wins and 12 losses.