Nick Osipczak Released, Ian Loveland Replaces Leonard Garcia as UFC Rolls into 2011

As the ufc heads towards its last few shows for the remaining 2010 calendar year, several recent stories have emerged. Former UFC Lightweight turned WEC Featherweight Leonard Garcia, who once challenged for the WEC Featherweight Championship, has been removed from his upcoming bout at “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 Finale event. In addition, it was recently confirmed that Nick Osipczak has been released from his contract. Here are all the details.

We head first to MMA Weekly, which has confirmed the release of Osipczak following his losing performance at UFC 122 to the returning Duane Ludwig. “Bang” would pry a Split Decision win from the “Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 contestant. Osipczak burst onto the UFC scene with two straight wins, both of them finishes, which propelled his overall record to 5-0 with five finishes. Unfortunately, things took a swift downturn. Despite the fact that he’s never been finished, this recent defeat was Osipczak’s third in a row. His release doesn’t exactly take me by surprise.

Next up we go to Sherdog, where Jordan Breen reports that Leonard Garcia has been forced to pull out of his upcoming match with Tyler Toner for undisclosed reasons. Ian Loveland has been signed to replace Garcia in what should be one of the first featherweight matches in UFC history. Garcia went 1-1-1 during 2010, and competed in one of the most entertaining bouts of the year at WEC 48, when he and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung battled it out for three amazing rounds of non-stop action.

While the release of Osipczak doesn’t surprise me in the slightest, I can certainly empathize with the man. He showed a gigantic amount of promise both in the UFC and in “The Ultimate Fighter”. I hope that these three losses will be the best thing that could’ve ever happened to him. Hopefully it gives him the chance to grow and evolve as a fighter, working his way back up to the UFC with the same kind of dramatic flair that got him noticed by the promotion in the first place. While he most likely has a long road ahead of him before he’s ever invited back into the Octagon, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Nick Osipczak.

The same goes for Leonard Garcia. I hate that his UFC re-debut has been postponed, but I’m still eagerly looking forward to it. Leonard Garcia is an asset to any promotion he works with, the man has an incredible amount of heart and he has the kind of style that fans can’t get enough of. We can all appreciate a good brawl, and Garcia typifies the type of fighter that will take two so he can give one. Call me crazy, but Garcia is on the short-list of WEC fighters that I just can’t wait to see in the UFC. I sincerely hope that he’ll be back and better than ever sooner rather than later.

And what about you, fans and friends? Any thoughts on Osipczak’s release or Garcia’s removal from the “TUF 12 Finale” card?