Ovince Saint Preux, Brian Kelleher among 11 fighters removed from UFC roster
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
A number of veterans have been removed from the UFC roster including one-time interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux.
The full list of names removed from the roster also includes Brian Kelleher, Ricky Glenn, Victor Altamirano, Da Woon Jung, Kaynan Kruschewsky, Brianna Fortino, Victoria Leonardo, Karl Williams, Danyelle Wolf and Jarno Errens.
The fighters removed from the roster were either released or their contracts came to an end and the UFC opted not to re-sign them to a new promotional contract at this time. The changes were first noted by the UFC Roster Tracker on Twitter.
For Saint Preux, his UFC run comes to an end after he spent the past 11 plus years with the UFC after he first made a name for himself in Strikeforce. The former University of Tennessee football player faced a laundry list of top fighters over the years and scored victories over many of them including a head kick knockout over current Bellator champion Corey Anderson and a pair of wins against UFC Hall of Famer Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
In 2016, Saint Preux welcomed Jon Jones back to the octagon following more than a year long layoff in an interim light heavyweight title fight but he ultimately lost a unanimous decision after five rounds.
In his most recent fight, Saint Pruex suffered a submission loss to Ryan Spann in the final bout on his contract, which precipitated his exit from the UFC.
Meanwhile, Kelleher is another notable name on the list after he spent the past seven years in the UFC while competing in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Always willing to take on whatever challenge thrown his way, Kelleher took on many top fighters during his run with the UFC but his time with the organization came to a close after four straight losses including fights against Umar Nurmagomedov and former champion Cody Garbrandt.
The fighters removed from the roster are now free to sign with any organization.
