In Ken Pavia’s latest post on MMAJunkie, he mentions that two of his clients, Richie Hightower and Jordan Radev have been dropped from the UFC:

The day needed a pick-me-up so I called UFC matchmaker Joe Silva to check the progress of my guys’ fights. He said he was still working on it but then informed me they would be releasing two of them, Jordan Radev and Richie Hightower. While I protested, he made good points. Jordan just lost to Dean Lister at the last UFC to bring him to 0-2 in the show. He is a Bulgarian Olympic wrestler who had killed it in Europe going 11-1. I have to now man up and make the tough call to his translator — a very knowledgeable, no-nonsense businesswoman from New York. I also now have to earn my keep by shopping this UFC vet and getting him back on track.

Hightower is a different story. He is a buddy. I knew him socially, and he was my nightlife hook-it-up guy in Phoenix. He is always the life of the party, and the after-parties at his awesome pad are legendary. He had bugged me for a while to represent him, but he was my height and weighed about 240. I thought he was one of those guys who fought for fun and to get girls. He told me he was going to quit his lucrative mortgage job and get in shape; I hear this story daily from guys. My attitude is, “Show me.” Well, Hightower did. He dropped the weight; I signed him, and I got him a tough “tester” fight. He KO’d the guy in about 30 seconds. We applied for “The Ultimate Fighter” show even though he had never fought at 170 — and he made it. He showed well, and for a guy who is relatively new to the serious side of this sport, I was very proud of him. One of my favorite quotes was the advice Nick Diaz gave to little brother Nate before a WEC fight. While graphic in nature, it really is a life lesson. He said “F@#* him up, and don’t be a bitch.” Hightower was overmatched, but he wasn’t a bitch. He stood toe to toe, and threw leather and brought it. Joe Silva said we would be doing a disservice to this kid to throw him into the 170 mix at this stage of his development. “He is young, so why ruin him?” I will keep this kid working for sure.

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