Popular Fighters Who Left The UFC (& Why)

The UFC is the largest and most popular MMA promotion by a wide margin. Promotions such as Bellator, PFL, and ONE Championship have done their best to try and bridge the gap between themselves and the UFC, but there's still a massive disparity in terms of talent and public interest. Most fighters dream of one day making it to the company.

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However, that public interest doesn't mean everything to certain fighters. Some of the most popular fighters in the promotion's history have decided that they didn't want to be there anymore. The reasons range anywhere from pay disputes to physical fights with UFC President Dana White.

10 Ben Rothwell

The most recent departure from the UFC is former heavyweight contender Ben Rothwell. "Big Ben" had been in the promotion for 13 years, first getting signed in 2009 and capturing huge wins over names such as Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett, Stefan Struve, and Brendan Schaub.

However, earlier this year, the heavyweight staple was released from the promotion. The news came as a shock, considering that he had a fight booked with Alexander Gustafsson. It was later learned that Rothwell requested his own release after the promotion failed to guarantee him a new contract following his fight with the Swede.

9 Cris Cyborg

Cris Cyborg's signing to the UFC was more surprising than her actual departure from the company. The featherweight champion had feuded with Dana White for years before she actually joined the promotion in 2015.

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The Brazilian reached the pinnacle of the sport, winning the UFC's 145-pound title in 2017. However, following her loss to Amanda Nunes, she and the UFC began budding heads. Following her contract expiring with a win over Felicia Spencer, she immediately headed to Bellator due to her relationship with White.

8 Randy Couture

Randy Couture was the UFC's heavyweight champion in 1997, following a win over Maurice Smith. The company attempted to position him as the face of the promotion, but things quickly hit a snag.

While Couture would later become the face of the UFC, it wouldn't be then. The promotion wanted him to face Bas Rutten in his first title defense, but he was unhappy with his contract. As such, he refused to fight Rutten or anyone in the UFC. He was eventually stripped of his title and released from the promotion and signed with Vale Tudo Japan.

7 Eddie Alvarez

One of the more surprising recent departures from the UFC came in 2018. Eddie Alvarez was just two years removed from being the lightweight champion, defending his title against Conor McGregor in one of the biggest UFC pay-per-views ever.

However, following his loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2018, he decided to leave the promotion. While he enjoyed his time in the UFC, ONE Championship apparently went above and beyond to bring him in, which led to him signing with the Asia-based promotion.

6 Benson Henderson

Another former UFC lightweight champion that left the promotion was Benson Henderson. Despite being on a two-fight winning streak and being a top contender at not only lightweight but also welterweight, he decided to depart in 2016 to Bellator.

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Henderson's reason was a simple one. He wanted to be a trailblazer and show other fighters that there were other promotions than the UFC and that the Reebok deal was affecting his pay and disallowing sponsors.

5 Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock was one of the UFC's biggest stars in 1996. Having been a former Superfight champion and going through wars against Dan Severn and Royce Gracie, he decided to leave the company, and MMA as a whole.

Due to politicians trying to ban MMA, he decided to go back to his old stomping grounds of professional wrestling. He then spent four years in WWE before returning to MMA in 2000.

4 Andrei Arlovski

Andrei Arlovski was one of the faces of the heavyweight division in 2008. Riding a three-fight winning streak, and just two years removed from being champion, he decided to leave the UFC following his contract's expiration after a win over Jake O'Brien.

Arlovski decided to sign with the newly-launched Affliction promotion. The reason was quite simple, it was money. His last reported payday for the UFC was $90,000, meanwhile, his fight with Ben Rothwell at Affliction: Banned saw him earn over a million dollars.

3 Tim Sylvia

While Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia don't agree on many things, they did agree that their UFC pay wasn't good in 2008. The big man's final fight in the promotion was an interim title loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81.

His reasons were slightly more complicated than Arlovski's. While he was also unhappy with his pay, he badly wanted to fight Fedor Emelianenko, viewed as the best heavyweight on the planet. He did face the Russian upon his UFC release later that year and promptly lost in 36 seconds.

2 Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock, like his brother Ken, had his fair share of battles with the UFC. That beef is even going today, which is why he's not in the Hall of Fame, despite being one of their most accomplished fighters ever.

That beef mainly stems from his feud with Dana White, and his 1999 retirement. Shamrock retired from MMA in 1998, but almost immediately came back to go fight in K-1, lighting up his rivalry with the UFC president.

1 Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz's rivalry with Dana White is known and led to his departure from the promotion twice. The pair notably even fought on an airplane in the mid-2000s, which likely led to his departure in 2008. He decided to sign with Affliction, but the promotion shut down before he could fight for them.

He eventually re-signed with the UFC for another four years. He retired in 2012 but came back to sign with Bellator in 2013. Once again his rivalry with White was seen as the reason for his signing to the rival promotion.