Brad Katona, the man who won The Ultimate Fighter Season 27 Featherweight tournament has been released from the UFC after suffering back to back losses.
This news is somewhat of a shock to many people, including Katona himself who shared the news via Instagram today, Even though the news had been kept quiet since November when he was actually informed by the promotion that they were parting ways with him.
- “With the news out now I figured I should address it. My release from the UFC came as a surprise, but it hasn’t changed my passion or drive to continue my pursuit of being the best in the world. Originally I wanted to forego announcing my release until I had something tangible and exciting to produce alongside it. Fortunately, I have a great team behind me helping to chart out the path to becoming the best version of myself. There’s lots to look forward to and I can’t wait to show it all off to you supportive family, friends, and fans. Thanks, everyone, this year is going to be exciting.”
Katona lost decisions to Merab Dvalishvili at Fight Night Ottawa last May and to Hunter Azure at Fight Night Vancouver in September, Which seemingly led to his being released.
Katona won the featherweight tournament of The Ultimate Fighter as an undefeated fighter taking out Jay Cucciniello via a unanimous decision at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale.
I’m interested to see where Katona lands, Bellator, PFL, ONE, we should know something soon.
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.