DaMarques Johnson’s UFC cut sends bad message

Let’s say you’re an MMA promoter. In fact, let’s say you’re the biggest in the world.

Your fight cards will inevitably be undercut by injuries and other changes of plans. So you’ll need to have fighters who are willing to step in on short notice.

You may even heap praise among fighters who take such calls. You may question the manhood, dedication, sanity or humanity of fighters who do not take short-notice fights.

So then why would you cut someone from your roster after they step up?

DaMarques Johnson cut from UFC roster – MMA Fighting

Let’s make this clear: Rich Attonito, according to MMA Junkie, passed on the fight against Gunnar Nelson because he was worried about making weight. But Attonito is still in the UFC. Johnson, who always put on entertaining fights and rarely leaves a fight in the hands of the judges, is not.

So let’s switch hats here. Suppose you’re a fighter, not the promoter. And Dana White calls you to say there’s a slot open on a card in four weeks. What would you say?