Farid Basharat never lost a fight in the UFC, and now he’s no longer in it. The undefeated bantamweight has been removed from the promotion’s roster after fighting out his contract, Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting reported Wednesday.
Basharat (16-0) closed out his deal with a win over John Garza in July. The UFC didn’t offer him a new one.
That makes him a free agent, and he can sign with any promotion he wants. MMA Fighting noted the UFC could still bring him back down the line, so the door hasn’t been bolted shut. It’s just been left open while he stands in the hallway.
The resume
The 29-year-old went 7-0 inside the octagon after earning his contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022. Along the way he picked up wins over Jean Matsumoto, Chris Gutierrez and Taylor Lapilus, and he worked his way into the top 10 of the UFC’s official rankings at 135 pounds.
That’s the part that stings. The UFC Meta Rankings, updated Tuesday after UFC Vegas 122, still had Basharat at No. 9 in a bantamweight division ruled by champion Petr Yan. He sat one spot behind Raul Rosas Jr. and one ahead of Marcus McGhee. Payton Talbott, Montel Jackson, Aiemann Zahabi, Bryce Mitchell and Marlon Vera were all ranked below him. Every one of those guys still has a UFC contract.
Family pattern
If this sounds familiar, it should. Farid’s older brother, Javid Basharat, was also released by the UFC coming off a win, according to MMA Fighting. Javid has since signed with the PFL.
Two brothers, two exits, both after wins. You don’t need a calculator for that one.
What’s next
No word yet on where Farid lands, and nothing in the reporting points to talks with anyone. The PFL connection through his brother is the obvious first guess, but that’s my guess and nothing more until somebody puts pen to paper.
What he brings to any bidder is simple. A perfect record, a top-10 ranking from the biggest promotion in the sport, and he’s 29, which in bantamweight years means he’s got a long runway left.
My take: you can debate how exciting Basharat’s fights were, and I’m sure some matchmaker has a spreadsheet explaining exactly why this made sense. But the UFC spends a lot of money building contenders through the Contender Series, and here’s one who did everything asked of him for four years and never lost a round of the bigger picture. Letting a ranked, unbeaten 135er walk out the door for free is the kind of decision that looks fine in October and dumb in 18 months, when he’s holding someone else’s belt and talking about how nobody called him back.
