Rolles Gracie released from UFC contract

I watched Rolles Gracie vs Joey Beltran on the ppv telecast last Saturday night with great anticipation. My house was full of Team Renzo Gracie Sudbury so this was the first time one of our own was in the octagon.

We all know how the fight went. Rolles lost by TKO in the 2nd round after he gassed out and seemed to lose all focus. The internet message boards have been going nuts since the fight aired with most armchair warriors crying shame that he wasn't prepared or something to that effect.

With that said, I've watched the fight over a few times. Yes, he gassed out near the end of the first round and the fight was all but over at the beginning of the second. However, I easily gave him round 1. He won that round clearly. So for a fight that lasted a little over 6 minutes in total, he was in control for 4. He controlled the octagon from the start, pinned Beltran to the fence, landed a takedown, got mount, landed some punches, took his back and then got reversed. He also landed the most effective strikes although his technique wasn't Sam Stout perfect.

Rolles was released from his contract today, but Dana wasn't hard on him. He'll rack up a few more wins outside the UFC and we'll see him come back, I've got no doubt.

Here's the link to Rolles' fight. (I couldn't embed the clip for this one).

http://mmahits.com/fight-video/mma-video/ufc-109-joey-beltran-vs-rolles-gracie-fight-video/

and finally...the news on his release courtesy of mmajunkie.com

http://mmajunkie.com/news/17921/report-heavyweight-rolles-gracie-released-from-ufc-follwing-debut-loss.mma