After 18 fights in the UFC spanning seven years, the promotion has cut ties with Japanese middleweight Yushin Okami.
The release comes as a bit of a surprise for several reasons. At just 32, Okami could conceivably have a lot of time left. He also had a three-fight winning streak prior to losing to Ronaldo Souza on Sept. 4. The UFC even had him ranked as their No. 6 middleweight, while Fight Magazine had him at No. 15.
This is a fighter who seems to have something left to offer. Dana White, though, thinks there are fighters in house bringing more to the table:
@MMA__UK our roster is packed
— Dana White (@danawhite) September 27, 2013
Okami exits with a 29-8 record overall and a 13-5 mark in the UFC. He had been considered a title contender on several occasions, losing a top contender fight to Rich Franklin in June, 2007 and then losing to champion Anderson Silva in August, 2011.
