It didn’t take long for the UFC’s matchmaking team and brass to make a decision on Jake Hadley after his third loss in four fights.
Hadley will have to work his way back to the UFC after an upset loss on the main card at UFC Fight Night 245 this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Hadley announced the news on social media Wednesday, but made a point to say his contract was up, and he “wasn’t cut.”
Hadley (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) was the biggest favorite on the card at more than 6-1 against Smotherman (12-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who took the fight on just a few days’ notice after Brady Hiestand pulled out. But Smotherman outworked him over 15 minutes for a unanimous decision.
“I wasn’t cut my contract came to an end,” Hadley posted on social media. “took 2 big risks my last 2 fights being a company man and it bit me on the arse. Took block head on a weeks notice but missed the weight which was obviously held against me then took cam on 3 days notice after originally training for a wrestling based opponent I understand cam didn’t do a camp but everyone’s ready always for 3x5s cmon I proven that vs block head took the fight on baby’s due date because fight was offered and didn’t wanna say no to the ufc and be a company man but ohh well if I choose to work my way back to the UFC I know I can do that again no problem.”
https://twitter.com/jakehadleymma/status/1849179246129746417
Hadley won the Cage Warriors flyweight title in late 2020. Ten months later, he took a fight on Dana White’s Contender Series and earned his way into the UFC – even though he missed weight.
After a loss in his promotional debut, he won back-to-back fights against Carlos Candelario and Malcolm Gordon, the latter of which was a 61-second knockout worth an extra $50,000.
But then came consecutive losses to Cody Durden and Charles Johnson at flyweight, and he missed weight when he moved up to bantamweight for a fight with Caolan Loughran earlier this year, which he referenced in his post.
The Smotherman loss was the nail in the coffin of the 28-year-old Brit’s UFC tenure for now.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.
