Ion Cuțelaba

Cuțelaba made his professional debut in April 2012, competing primarily for regional promotions across Eastern Europe. He amassed a record of 11-1 (1) before signing with the UFC in the spring of 2016.[4]

Cuțelaba made his promotional debut against Misha Cirkunov on June 18, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 89.[7] He lost the fight via submission in the third round.[8]

Cuțelaba next faced Jonathan Wilson on October 1, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 96. He won the fight via unanimous decision.[9]

Cuțelaba next faced Jared Cannonier on December 3, 2016 at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale.[10] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.[11] Subsequently, both fighters earned Fight of the Night honors.[12]

Cuțelaba faced Henrique da Silva on June 11, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 110.[13] He won the fight via knockout in the opening minute of the first round.[14]

Cuțelaba was expected to face Gadzhimurad Antigulov on November 4, 2017 at UFC 217.[15] However, Antigulov pulled out of the fight on September 26 citing an injury and was replaced by newcomer Michał Oleksiejczuk.[16] In turn after the weigh-ins, Cuțelaba was pulled from the event by USADA due to a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from its investigation into voluntary disclosures by Cuțelaba during an out-of-competition sample collections on October 18 and October 19. He was provisionally suspended and the bout was scrapped.[17] USADA handed down a six-month suspension for ozone therapy involving a blood transfusion which is prohibited under 2018 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list on manipulation of blood component. Cuțelaba became eligible to fight again on May 6, 2018[18]

The bout with Antigulov eventually took place on July 28, 2018 at UFC on Fox 30.[19] Cuțelaba won the fight via TKO in the first round.[20]

Cuțelaba was scheduled to face Glover Teixeira on January 19, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 1,.[21] However, on January 10, 2019, Cuțelaba was pulled out of the bout due to an injury.[22] The pair was rescheduled to meet at UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs. Hermansson on April 27, 2019.[23] Cuțelaba lost via a rear-naked-choke submission at 3:37 in the second round.[24]

Cuțelaba faced Khalil Rountree Jr. on September 28, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 18.[25] He won via TKO in the first round.[26]

Cuțelaba faced Magomed Ankalaev on February 29, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 169.[27] He lost the fight controversially via TKO in the first round.[28] The loss was controversial as referee Kevin MacDonald stopped the bout believing Cuțelaba was out on his feet while still standing, which Cuțelaba immediately protested. The stoppage was universally deemed terrible by the event announcers, MMA pundits, and UFC fighters alike.[29][30][31][32][33] Subsequently, the Virginia athletic commission reviewed the controversial stoppage, denying the appeal thus resulting the technical knockout win for Ankalaev left standing.[34][35][36]

Due to the controversy of the stoppage, UFC rebooked the pair on April 18, 2020 to meet at UFC 249.[37] However, Ankalaev was forced to pull from the event due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restriction, and Cuțelaba was pulled from the event and was scheduled to face Ovince Saint Preux on April 25, 2020.[38] However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date[39] The rematch with Ankalaev was expected to take place on August 15, 2020 at UFC 252.[40] Cuțelaba then pulled out on August 11 after testing positive for COVID-19 and the bout was rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 175.[41] However, the day of the event, the bout was once again scrapped after Cuțelaba tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time.[42] The bout rescheduled for the third time and they met on October 24, 2020 at UFC 254.[43] Cuțelaba lost the fight via knockout in round one.[44]

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Jared Cannonier

• European Combat Sambo Federation
  • 2012 European Combat Sambo Championships (90 kg)[3]