Gregor
Gillespie wants to make one thing perfectly clear: He is still
very much a part of the UFC roster.
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Rumors of Gillespie’s release began to circulate when Twitter
account UFC Roster Watch announced that the lightweight had been
removed from the UFC roster. Gillespie took to social media to
clarify the situation shortly there after.
“I am removed from the RANKINGS.. Not from the organization,”
Gillespie wrote on Twitter. “(Fighters are removed after 12 months
of inactivity). I am NOT GOING ANYWHERE! The UFC has always been
great to me! 100% class! It is not their fault that I don’t have a
fight. They have offered me plenty of fights.”
Gillespie hasn’t competed since UFC on ESPN 24 in May 2021, when he
defeated Diego
Ferreira via second-round technical knockout. The 35-year-old
Bellmore Kickboxing Academy representative explained that he has
been on the sidelines because he isn’t interested in facing anyone
ranked below him, and that has made finding bouts difficult.
“I have accepted all and any that were ranked ahead of me (outside
of short notice), and conversely I have obviously turned down
anyone ranked behind me,” he wrote.
“I am on a mission to fight the top guys with the lowest number
next to their name to get close to the belt. Fighting guys ranked
behind me isn’t the way to do it, but I also understand sitting for
a while isn’t either.”
The former NCAA national champion wrestler at Edinboro University
also stated that certain opponents, such as Rafael dos
Anjos and Michael
Chandler, simply haven’t been interested in fighting him.
“PS.. RDA, chandler, offer f—ing stands. RDA was cool fighting me
on [four] days notice (when I was on the top of a mountain [seven]
hours away), but turns me down on a full camp,” he wrote.
Gillespie is 14-1 as a professional and 7-1 in UFC competition but
has yet to fight more than twice in a calendar year — and has
notable only fought once in the past two and a half years.
I am removed from the RANKINGS.. Not from
the organization. (Fighters are removed after 12 months of
inactivity). I am NOT GOING ANYWHERE! The UFC has always been great
to me! 100% class! It is not their fault that I don’t have a fight.
They Have offered me plenty of fights— gregor gillespie (@gregor_the_gift)
May 15, 2022