The UFC has released Pat Audinwood (9-2-1) following his decision loss to John Makdessi at UFC 124, according to MMAWeekly.com.
Although he came into the UFC undefeated, Audinwood has come up short in both of his Octagon appearances. In addition to the Makdessi loss, Audinwood suffered a first round submission defeat at the hands of Thiago Tavares at UFC 119.
With the UFC-WEC merger set to go until full effect at the beginning of 2011, the lightweight division — the only weight class overlapping between the two promotions — will be especially crowded and competitive, with more people competing for a limited number of spots.
News surfaced yesterday about the release of Dustin Hazelett after he lost his first fight at 155. However, the roster trimming isn’t limited to the lightweights. Other fighters recently let go include Gerald Harris, Seth Petruzelli, Goran Reljic, Nick Osipczak, and Peter Sobotta.