Middleweight Joe Doerksen (39-12) joins the not-so-distinguished list of recent fighters to be released from their UFC contracts over the past few months according to a report from Ontario's Sportsnet.ca.
The recent trend seems to be focused on the 185 lb. class as Doerksen joins fellow middleweights David Terrell, Kalib Starnes and Travis Lutter on the temporary unemployment line.
The common denominator (besides being released) is that each fighter has a wealth of both talent and presence. Unfortunately, they've been either stricken with injury or unable to put together winning records inside the Octagon.
From Doerksen:
"(The UFC officials) made it very clear they're very happy with the way I fight and they want me to come back, But they need me to go put a couple of wins together (first). It's always a possibility whenever you lose. I've come and gone several times over my career and I'm sure I'll be back again. It's not really devastating news. It's just the cycle I have to go through."
Doerksen is 1-4 in the UFC, including a knockout loss against Ed Herman at UFC 78 and a TKO at the hands of Jason MacDonald at UFC 83. Doerksen, however, has been fighting since 1999 and with more than 50 professional fights he's not going to be out of work for very long.
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