'TUF 19' middleweight finalist Dhiego Lima announces release from UFC roster

Dhiego Lima

With three losses in his four official UFC fights, Dhiego Lima says he has been released from the UFC.

The welterweight fighter recently announced the news on his official Facebook page. The UFC, as is typical with fighter releases, did not make any formal announcement of Lima’s release – and his fighter profile still is listed at UFC.com.

“I’m no longer under UFC contract, so I’ll be taking the rest of the year off from fighting (and) focusing just on training and our gym,” Lima posted on Facebook. “I will be back fighting next year starting fresh. Thank you UFC for all the opportunities. I wasn’t able to show anything I do on all my fights in there. I need to take some fights outside, rebuild myself and come back like an animal.”

Lima (10-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC), the brother of Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima, started his career 9-1, including five fights under the MFC banner and one for XFC. He earned a spot on Season 19 of “The Ultimate Fighter” as a middleweight in the fall of 2013.

In the “TUF” house, he picked up a pair of submission victories under coach Frankie Edgar to reach the final against show teammate Eddie Gordon.

But at the TUF 19 Finale a year ago in his official UFC debut, he was knocked out in 71 seconds. Lima followed that up four months later with his lone UFC win, a decision victory over Jorge de Oliveira in Brazil.

But in February, Tim Means knocked him out in the first round at UFC 184, and two and a half months later, Li Jingliang knocked him out in 85 seconds in the Philippines, giving him three first-round knockout losses in his four UFC fights.