Brian Bowles among eight fighters recently released by UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster has a few vacancies after the world's largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion decided to release eight fighters, according to a report from MMA Fighting.

Chief among them is former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) bantamweight champion Brian Bowles, who went 0-2 in his previous two outings inside the Octagon; losing to Urijah Faber at UFC 139 back in 2011 and then to George Roop at UFC 160 in May of 2013.

Following his second-round technical knockout loss to Roop, Bowles was suspended for nine months and fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) after it was discovered that his testosterone to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio was a whopping 20/1. The legal limit -- before testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) was banned -- was 6/1.

Then came his arrest for methamphetamine possession.

Another notable cut was Akira Corassani, who dropped three straight inside the Octagon to Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway and more recently losing to Sam Sicilia via first-round knockout at UFC on FOX 14 earlier this year (video replay). Prior to his skid, Akira had won his first three bouts with the promotion after earning his way in as a cast member of season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).

Not that it matters at this point, since Corassani announced his retirement last month.

Rounding out the recent releases are Stanislav Nedkov, Andy Ogle, Humberto Brown, Rodolfo Rubio, Juan Puig and Tim Gorman, all of whom reportedly received their walking papers from the promotion.

All of the combatants listed were on a minimum two-fight losing streak.