Unbeaten record, no contract: UFC's 'hypocrisy' under fire

Basharat's release after 7-fight win streak draws criticism

Page's exit also fuels debate over entertainment-over-merit policy

Johnson: 'They say they want the best, then cut winners'

Farid Basharat (right) in action against Chris Gutierrez at UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Oct. 4, 2025 (local time). [Getty Images]

A fighter who has never lost a professional MMA bout has left the UFC. Farid Basharat went 16-0 overall and won seven straight inside the octagon, yet the promotion did not offer him a new contract. The departure of another fighter, Michael "Venom" Page, who posted a solid 5-1 UFC record, has added fuel to a growing debate over whether the organization values entertainment over performance.

Basharat, a 29-year-old British fighter of Afghan descent, was dropped from the UFC roster after his contract expired without a renewal offer, MMA Fighting and other outlets reported Thursday.

Basharat earned his UFC deal in 2022 through Dana White's Contender Series, the promotion's main talent-recruitment competition. He made his octagon debut the following year and went 7-0, climbing into the bantamweight top 10. His most recent fight was a unanimous-decision win over John Garza at UFC 329 in July.

Basharat confirmed the split on his social media Friday and made no effort to hide his frustration. "My departure from the UFC clearly has nothing to do with my fighting ability," he wrote. "Unfortunately, the UFC is no longer what it once was. It is going in a different direction from what we all admired."

He said he had received no contract offer or opponent proposal since his last fight. "I waited, but nothing came," he said, adding that he had never once turned down a fight during his time with the promotion.

One detail stands out: of his seven UFC wins, only one came by finish. The other six were all decided by the judges.

Michael "Venom" Page, recently released by the UFC, has since signed with Misfits Boxing. [Getty Images]

Page, 39, of Britain, presents a similar case. He went 5-1 in the UFC but was not offered a new deal when his contract ran out. All six of his octagon bouts ended on the scorecards.

Page has since signed a multi-year, multi-fight deal with Misfits Boxing and said the new contract will earn him more than he made in the UFC.

Both fighters posted strong records yet failed to secure renewals. Meanwhile, some fighters with losing streaks have kept their UFC spots on the strength of crowd-pleasing styles and fan followings. The pattern has led many observers to conclude that the UFC weighs marketability and buzz at least as heavily as competitive results.

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, 40, of the United States, has been among the sharpest critics of this approach. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Johnson addressed Page's release and called the UFC "hypocrites" outright.

He said it made no sense for the promotion to trumpet its commitment to signing the world's best fighters while simultaneously cutting winners it deemed insufficiently entertaining.

Johnson said the UFC ultimately judges a fighter's value by how many fans he can draw and how much attention he can generate — not by skill alone — and argued that such a standard runs counter to the basic competitive principles of sport.

UFC legend Demetrious Johnson. [Getty Images]

Basharat's brother, Javid Basharat, also failed to earn a new UFC contract after winning his final bout for the promotion in February and has since moved to the PFL.

The UFC has not publicly cited a lack of marketability as the reason for either Basharat's or Page's release. But a string of contract non-renewals, compounded by a former champion's public rebuke, has intensified scrutiny of the standards the promotion uses to evaluate its fighters.

yjc@heraldcorp.com