Martin Buday’s UFC exit has been debated within the MMA community, and one well-known personality has shared his opinion.
Buday is riding a three-fight winning streak and he went 7-1 under the UFC banner. He was even ranked No. 15 in the official UFC heavyweight rankings. Ultimately, the decision was made not to renew Buday’s deal. Those who argue against the UFC’s decision feel there’s no room to be picky with talent in the heavyweight division, while others argue that Buday was never going to make a significant splash.
During a recent episode of the “Weighing In” podcast, Josh Thomson said he thinks it’s possible the UFC didn’t like Buday’s fighting style (via MMAJunkie).
“Let’s not pretend there is a ton of great heavyweights,” Thomson said on his “Weighing In” podcast. “If you want to get him beat, then get him beat so he leaves. Not re-signing him? One of two things happened: The contract negotiations didn’t go well or he’s just been so boring that they were like, ‘Look, we don’t want to have anything to do with you. You’re too wrestling-based, you’re too top-control based.’”
Regardless of the reasoning, Thomson feels this was a misstep by the UFC given the state of the heavyweight division.
“What I get upset about, though, is stop saying you have the best fighters in the world when you’re pushing away some of the best fighters,” Thomson added. “This guy is 7-1 in a weak heavyweight division where you need the best fighters. You can say this guy is the best fighter. Have him fight the guys in the top seven, top eight. If he wins, he wins. Maybe the cream rises to the top. Maybe you get a great performance out of him that makes him something that he never would have been.”
Martin Buday recently told Ariel Helwani that he’s received several offers to compete for other promotions. He admitted that PFL and KSW have his interest at the moment.
