The UFC's roster churn continued this week, with nine fighters disappearing from the promotion's active roster — released outright or simply not offered new deals. The most notable name: former Bellator inaugural welterweight champion Lyman Good.
“"I've been training with Saygid my whole life. I know how dedicated he is. He's getting physically stronger and stronger, and soon, he's going to be the best – not only in our team, but in the world. I have a lot of faith in him."”
Good, 41, exits with a 21-6 record and a 3-3 UFC mark, but the striking detail is how long he's been gone without being gone. His last fight was a unanimous decision loss to Belal Muhammad in June 2020; injuries and personal family matters kept him sidelined for more than six years. In a peculiar footnote to his tenure, Good continued to register anti-doping tests with the promotion as recently as 2025 — his formal separation from the roster apparently never cleanly resolved until now. He arrived in the UFC in 2015 after winning Bellator's first 170-pound title and notched Octagon wins over Andrew Craig, Ben Saunders and Chance Rencountre.
The other eight: Saygid Izagakhmaev, Bruno Lopes, Bekzat Almakhan, Cody Gibson, Aoriqileng, Ravena Oliveira, Stewart Nicoll and Hailey Cowan.
The most attention has gone to Izagakhmaev, the longtime teammate of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who leaves the UFC without a win. The 32-year-old Dagestani arrived last year with a 22-2 record and a 3-0 run in ONE Championship, carrying enormous expectations. Instead he dropped back-to-back fights to Nicolas Dalby at UFC Qatar and Abubakar Vagaev in July at UFC Abu Dhabi, and now departs at 22-4. "I've been training with Saygid my whole life," Khabib once told ONE Championship. "I have a lot of faith in him." The UFC's faith, evidently, ran out after two fights.
The most head-scratching cut is Bekzat Almakhan. The 29-year-old Kazakh went just 1-3 in the Octagon, but against brutal competition: he dropped Umar Nurmagomedov early in his short-notice debut before losing a decision, knocked out two-time TUF winner Brad Katona, then lost decisions to Aleksandre Topuria and Jean Matsumoto. At 29, he is the likeliest of the nine to fight his way back.
Cody Gibson's second UFC stint also ended, with the 38-year-old going 2-5 after returning through The Ultimate Fighter 31, where he lost the tournament final to Katona but earned a Fight of the Night bonus. He was removed from the roster in August.
The timing is no accident. With the UFC now operating in the first year of its Paramount+ partnership and another wave of Contender Series signees arriving, the promotion is clearing space the way it always does: ruthlessly. For nine fighters, the dream continues elsewhere.
