Accomplished black belt and former bantamweight champion Renan Barao has been released by the UFC, according to Combate news. Also cut from the promotion’s current roster of fighters was one-time contender Liz Carmouche, best known for challenging women’s MMA names like Ronda Rousey and Valentina Shevchenko.
Barao, a native Brazilian who once trained as part of Nova Uniao, was awarded his black belt by Dede Pederneiras in 2011. His dominating performance in Shooto, Jungle Fight, and WEC eventually earned him a UFC contract and his subsequent bantamweight strap. He lost that title to TJ Dillashaw back in 2014, and has since struggled to regain the momentum which made him a champion. Barao last appeared on the UFC’s Sao Paulo card last month, moving up to 145lbs. in an effort to begin another title run, but lost via UD to Douglas Silva de Andrade.
Carmouche, according to manager Kyle Stoltz, learned of her dismissal from the UFC while still doing promo tour work for the organization in Washington, DC.
“I’m a little bit pained,” Carmouche told MMA Junkie. “They brought me out here and had me doing a lot of media obligations. I went to Arlington Cemetery and was part of the wreath ceremony. They brought me out as a veteran and as a fighter. Then today they had me going to the hospital and talking to different people and different wards – only to find out that I’d been released earlier. The news just finally trickled down to me.”
The first openly gay fighter to come out during her professional contract, Carmouche made fight history as part of the UFC’s first ever female fight at UFC 157. She enters free agency following a loss this August to Shevchenko with a record of 13-7.
