UFC (again) drops Jesse Taylor
"The Ultimate Fighter 7" cast member Jesse Taylor (6-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a talented wrestler whose season-ending drunken rampage cost him a spot in the show's finals, has been kicked out of the organization for a second time.
The news was first reported in the July 29 print edition of Wrestling Observer, though after a recent loss in his official UFC debut, it had been expected.
MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) couldn't reach Taylor for comment, but a source close to the UFC confirmed that Taylor had essentially been "let go."
Taylor, a 25-year-old former collegiate wrestler, navigated through a field of 32 competitors to earn a slot in the "TUF" finals against Amir Sadollah. However, on the night before leaving Las Vegas to return home before the finale, he got drunk, trashed a limo and, according to UFC President Dana White, "terrorized" guests at the Palace State Casino -- a Vegas property run by UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. Taylor was kicked out of the competition and off the show.
During a segment taped for the show, coach (and UFC light heavyweight) Quinton Jackson said that White couldn't have a fighter such as Taylor representing the company.
Weeks later, Taylor was given a second chance in the organization and scheduled to fight show runner-up C.B. Dollaway at UFC Fight Night 14. At about the time, Jackson was arrested after a bizarre police chase in California, and Taylor hinted that Jackson had it coming.
Taylor also took a shot at the UFC.
"Oh yeah, it's a big double standard," Taylor said when asked about the Jackson situation and the UFC's support of the fighter. "I'm sure if I were the ex-middleweight champion, I could get away with stuff. I'm sure if I would have done (what Jackson did), I'd be banned."
Those comments -- and doubts that he was following through with his Alcoholics Anonymous meetings -- didn't go over well with UFC management.
So, after Taylor suffered a first-round submission loss to Dollaway, he essentially secured his ticket out of the organization.
Although Taylor obviously wanted to fight in the UFC, he should have no trouble finding work. Any number of regional or even "major" organizations would likely take a flier on the middleweight based on his name recognition alone.
Stupid Jesse Taylor cut AGAIN
