Charlie Brenneman‘s career in the UFC has been one of great wins and sloppy losses. Unless you’re Dan Hardy or Thiago Alves, you can bet that two losses in a row will probably foresee your walking papers. Brenneman holds notable wins over Rick Story and Daniel Roberts, with his last three losses (2 in a row)coming in the way of first round finishes to Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Erick Silva and his most recent tko loss to Kyle Noke. Brenneman is 4-4 in the UFC, and after his last two losses has been cut by the UFC. He detailed the occurrence in an interview with BloodyElbow.com:
“Basically, I realized after my last fight that I wasn’t in a good situation. A week had passed, and yesterday I got a call from my manager/trainer, Mike Constantino. He just said it as succinctly as possible, which is how I prefer it, ‘It’s not good, you’re cut.’ There’s nothing really to say. I kind of made my own bed, and I hope to get another chance. I lost to Kyle Noke , and when someone says, ‘You got caught early’, I have to counter that by saying that I shouldn’t have left him the opening to hit me. That’s just the way it goes.”
Brenneman is a great wrestler with a weak chin, and the man with great heart has taken to Twitter on many occasions to express his true feelings.
“I’m not closing the book on anything. The UFC is where I want to be, and it’s where I will be again. I give up a lot to fight. I don’t live with my wife. I live in New Jersey so I can devote myself to training, when all my family lives in Pennsylvania. It’s not a question of drive and passion. I have plenty of that. When that drive naturally expires, then I’ll think about stopping.”
Being a huge fan of MMA and the UFC, I expect Brenneman to expand his game, work on his defense and return to the main stage in the future. Great wrestling with poor defense will only get you so far, and sometimes you have to learn the hard way, as I expect Brenneman to do.
Brenneman wasn’t the only one to lose his job do to lack of consecutive wins. Eiji Mitsuoka, Michihiro Omigawa, Tommy Hayden, & Walel Watson also have been cut by the UFC.
When you make it to the big stage and can’t be consistent, expect to be packing your bags. The UFC has so much talent now a days, that if you can’t prove yourself, they have so many others waiting to take your spot.