Veteran Japanese fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri says he's asked for release from UFC contract

Although he didn’t lay out any specific reasons, you can Tatsuya Kawajiri to the list of fighters who have said they want out of the UFC.

Kawajiri (35-10-2 MMA, 3-3 UFC) today posted on his Twitter account, saying he has asked to be released from his contract with the promotion.

“After rounds of thoughts, I’ve asked to be released from the UFC,” Kawajiri said on social media. “Plan for the future will be announced separately. Appreciate your support.”

Kawajiri is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his lengthy MMA career, which started in 2000 in his native Japan for Shooto. He fought for that promotion for five years before hooking up with PRIDE, for which he fought six times.

Kawajiri also fought for DREAM, Strikeforce and ONE Championship before he finally debuted in the UFC in January 2014 by choking out Sean Soriano in the second round in Singapore.

After that debut win, which gave him six straight victories, he lost a “Fight of the Night” decision to Clay Guida in Abu Dhabi in April 2014. But after more than a year off, he returned at UFC Fight Night 69 for a decision win over Dennis Siver in Germany, then outpointed Jason Knight this past December at the TUF 22 Finale.

In February, at UFC Fight Night 83 in Pittsburgh, he dropped a unanimous decision to Dennis Bermudez. And in August, he lost a decision to Cub Swanson in Salt Lake City at UFC Fight Night 92.

The setback to Swanson was one he wasn’t a fan of. In the second round, Swanson caught him with an accidental illegal knee, and Kawajiri said two days later he was “unconscious for a little bit after getting by that knee shot on the ground.” He also took issue with the judges’ scoring – he lost 30-27 on two cards and 29-28 on the other.

Kawajiri also said then that because he’s 38 and “not so young anymore,” he thought the fight with Swanson may have been his last. But because he believed he didn’t get beat, he wanted one more chance. He asked for a fight with Frankie Edgar at UFC 205, which takes place next month in New York City. But Edgar will fight Jeremy Stephens at that show.

So now it appears if Kawajiri indeed wants one more chance because he’s not done yet, he wants it to be outside of the UFC.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.