{"id":621405,"date":"2026-04-21T13:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/621405\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:01:09","slug":"dana-white-cuts-paddy-pimbletts-teammate-in-latest-ufc-roster-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/621405\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White cuts Paddy Pimblett’s teammate in latest UFC roster change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dana White has cut one of Paddy \u201cThe Baddy\u201d Pimblett\u2019s gym mates from the UFC roster after just two bouts with the promotion.<\/p>\n

While Pimblett<\/a> looks to rebuild from his points decision defeat to Justin Gaethje last time out, he remains one of the shining lights of British MMA on the world stage, having won seven of his eight fights since signing with the UFC in March 2021.<\/p>\n

The Liverpudlian is one of several fighters competing out of Next Generation MMA, with Molly McCann also previously stepping into the Octagon.<\/p>\n

Luke Riley and Nathan Fletcher have also fought in the UFC, with the former picking up victories in his first two contests since arriving from Cage Warriors.<\/p>\n

But unfortunately for their gym mate Shem Rock \u2013 full name Shaqueme Rock \u2013 his UFC journey has been cut short after just two contests.<\/p>\n

Rock, 32, suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Nurullo Aliev on his UFC debut in November 2025 before picking up a second loss against Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady last month.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old has been released from the UFC<\/a>\u2019s active roster alongside veteran Pedro Munhoz.<\/p>\n

\"ShemShem Rock has been cut by the UFC (Credit:Getty)<\/p>\n

After his defeat in March, Rock refused to shake hands with his opponent after a fiery build-up, including a physical altercation at the weigh-in.<\/p>\n

On fight night, the Liverpudlian appeared to throw hands at his opponent after the bell, which prompted officials to separate the pair before things escalated further.<\/p>\n

It is unclear whether his post-fight behaviour contributed to the UFC\u2019s decision to cut him from the roster.<\/p>\n

Shem Rock reacts to UFC cut decision<\/p>\n

Rock appeared to see the funny side of the call and took to X, writing: \u201cLooks like I\u2019ve got to change my username,\u201d referring to his social media handle @Shemrockufc.<\/p>\n

Fans offered their thoughts on the decision on social media.<\/p>\n

One said: \u201cEven bigger fights on the horizon \ud83d\ude4c\ud83d\ude4c. I would love to see you vs Amru Magomedov in the PFL, or Shaydullaev in Rizin if you can cut to featherweight again. We\u2019ll work our way back for the Jubli superfight. Love ya, Shem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cThe UK waking up to see Shem Rock has been cut from the UFC \u2013 sad day, people, sad day indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third claimed: \u201cNah, I\u2019m actually disappointed. Yes, he spoke crap and did stupid shiz, but there\u2019s worse out there??? I don\u2019t even care. I\u2019m sad about Shem Rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

UFC returns with Aljamain Sterling set to face Youssef Zalal in a featherweight contest at the Apex on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dana White has cut one of Paddy \u201cThe Baddy\u201d Pimblett\u2019s gym mates from the UFC roster after just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,958,786,785,17498,85,787],"class_list":{"0":"post-621405","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-dana-white","11":"tag-fighting","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-paddy-pimblett","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-ufc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}