The UFC has parted ways with two more fighters, including a long-time training partner of heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
That would be heavyweight Don’Tale Mayes, who spent about five years with the Las Vegas-based MMA promotion. Croatian flyweight Ivana Petrovic was also cut from the UFC roster.
News of these latest roster slashes was first reported by Borrachinha Depot on X.
Don’Tale Mayes, who played a pivotal role in may Jon Jones training camps, earned his spot on the UFC roster with a knockout of Ricardo Prasel on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019. He made his debut with the promotion later that year, but did not get a warm welcome, suffering a submission loss to future interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. He was then submitted by Rodrigo Nascimento before going on the best run of his UFC career: back-to-back wins over Roque Martinez and Josh Parisian.
After a no contest against Hamdy Abdelwahab, Mayes then went 2-5 in his last seven fights. That run included a knockout win over former heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski — arguably the best win of his career — but ended with three-straight losses. The latest came at UFC Des Moines last weekend when out-wrestled by Thomas Petersen. The long-time Jones training partner has not yet commented publicly on his UFC release.
Ivana Petrovic also cut from UFC
As we covered, Croatia’s Petrovic also lost her spot on the UFC roster. She had a much shorter run with the promotion than Mayes.
After winning the Ares FC flyweight belt in Europe, she was signed by the American promotion in 2023. She went 1-3 in the Octagon. First, she lost to Luana Carolina. Then she beat Na Liang. Finally, she lost to Jamey-Lyn Horth and, most recently, Juliana Miller in Des Moine last Saturday. All of her UFC losses came by decision.