Efrain Escudero on His UFC Release: "To This Day, It Doesn’t Make Sense."

Since the show’s inception, the ufc has made a clear effort to protect and continue to employ the notable fighters from the long-running UFC reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter”, especially the winners of the various seasons. Never was this more apparent than in the case of Keith Jardine, who lost four fights in a row before getting the boot. But that chain of protection was recently broken when the UFC released Efrain Escudero following his loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC Fight Night: “Marquardt vs. Palhares”. It’s been a little over a month since Escudero was shockingly handed his pink slip, and according to “Hecho in Mexico”, he remains baffled at the UFC’s decision to release him.

Here’s what the popular Mexican fighter had to say over at MMA Weekly: “First of all I was disappointed in my performance in the fight. I was kind of like sleeping, I had other things in my head instead of worrying about fighting… Joe Silva was just like ‘we’re releasing you’ and at first I was like ‘whoa’, I didn’t know what to say, I was speechless. They know what they’re doing and for me it was weird because I don’t have consecutive losses… Still to this day, it doesn’t make sense… I will be back in the UFC… I want to get back to the UFC and give Dana White what he originally hired me to do and beat up people.”

If you’ll recall, Dana White said that he released Escudero because he felt that Escudero had gotten “comfortable” and slacked off in his duties as a fighter and especially as a TUF winner. White also revealed that coming in three pounds overweight (even with the one-pound allowance given to non-title fights) played a large part in the UFC’s decision to give Escudero the axe. According to another report, both strikeforce and Bellator FC have expressed an interest in signing Efrain.

Part of me agrees with Efrain, but then again, part of me sides with the UFC too. The simple fact of the matter is that Escudero had three fights in 2010 with the UFC and lost two of them, even if they weren’t consecutively. If that wasn’t enough of a sign that Escudero was lacking in motivation even after the UFC took great pains to market and promote him, he then shows up overweight and turns in a lackluster performance. So although the UFC certainly helped fill in the grave, Efrain’s hands were firmly wrapped around the shovel.

Still, it’s very apparent that Escudero was held to an unfair standard. Chris Leben tested positive for steroids after losing to Michael Bisping and then lost his return fight after serving a lengthy suspension, and still he remains employed with the UFC. In fact, he’s probably a bigger star than ever. As stated before, Keith Jardine had to lose four, two of which were back-to-back KO’s, before the UFC let him go. Efrain isn’t guilt-free, but he was certainly held to an unfair standard.

And what do you think, fans and friends? Was it a bad decision to let Efrain go, and whose fault was it that he’s no longer in the UFC? And what do you think the future has in store for him?