Renan Barao, Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, Paulo Thiago, Gleison Tibau and Rousimar Palhares were household names on Brazilian UFC cards over the past decade. Some of them challenged for titles and one of them even got to wear the bantamweight crown at one point; even if it seems like ages ago in a sport that can be rather unforgiving at times.
Fast forward a few years and none of those recognizable faces still fight under the Octagon’s spotlights. They all went their different ways at different moments in time when they were released from their UFC contracts.