The UFC’s end-of-year purge of fighters with mediocre resumes continued on Tuesday. Jake “White Kong” Hadley was released less than 72 hours after he lost to Cameron Smotherman on Saturday during UFC Vegas 99.
Hadley came into the fight as a minus-550 favorite, and Smotherman, who took the fight on less than a week’s notice as a replacement for Brady Hiestand, was a plus-390 underdog.
Smotherman had better boxing and the requisite takedown defense to secure the unanimous decision victory (30-26, 29-27×2). Hadley was even penalized a point during the fight for two eye pokes.
After news of Hadley’s release spread, the 28-year-old took to Instagram to address his fans. Hadley posted an image from the fight with Smotherman with this caption.
“The fight game highest highs and the lowest lows, the path of the warrior is always the hardest that’s why nobody got the balls to do what we do. congratulations to Cameron on a great fight ill be back see you guys soon.
#UFCVegas99 #UFC #TEAMHADLEY #whitekong”
Hadley entered the UFC when he secured a second-round submission win over Mitch Rapnoso on Season 5 of the Dana White Contender Series. He memorably wept as he sweated out White’s decision to offer him a contract.
Since landing in the UFC, Hadley has compiled a 3-4 record. However, he has lost three of his last four, and as the promotion makes room for new additions from Season 8 of the DWCS, Hadley was a roster casualty.
Hadley may not be without a promotion for long. Professional Fighters League analyst Dan Hardy made it known on IG that Hadley’s release caught his attention.
As the PFL attempts to build out a bantamweight division, a fighter like Hadley could be a solid addition to the season format. The promotion will need more than Hadley, but that wouldn’t be a horrible acquisition from a pure-depth standpoint.
As for Smotherman, he looked outstanding against Hadley. His athleticism, toughness, and focus were on display as he made the most of his opportunity.
Like Hadley, Smotherman had an opportunity to land in the UFC as a participant on DWCS in Season 7. However, Charalampos Grigoriou knocked Smotherman out in 60 seconds.
To Smotherman’s credit, the 27-year-old rebounded with three consecutive wins to get a second chance to make the UFC’s main roster. Two of those three wins came by exciting finishes.
A flying knee KO in November 2023 started the streak, and less than three months before he got the call to replace Hiestand, Smotherman submitted Ryan Mondala by Anaconda Choke.
The next step for Smotherman will be to maintain his momentum and look to string wins together. He could be in the same situation as Hadley if he can’t produce wins or exciting fights.
Perhaps Smotherman will be matched against Hiestand in his next fight, or who knows, he might be someone else’s late replacement.
It seems like that’s a comfortable role for him.
Read the full article here
