Highly-ranked bantamweight contender Farid Basharat has reportedly been cut by the UFC.Basharat’s contract with MMA’s premier promotion expired after he extended his unblemished record to 16-0 with a unanimous decision victory over John Garza in July.Basharat won all seven of his UFC fights and sports a 16-0 record, but that wasn’t enough for him to survive the chopping blockGettyDespite winning all seven of his bouts under the UFC banner, MMA Fighting is reporting Basharat was not offered a new deal and has therefore been removed from the active roster.Basharat, who secured a UFC contract on Dana White‘s Contender Series in 2022, had been ranked No.9 at 135lbs at the time of his release. He is now free to explore his options, with PFL – soon-to-be MVP MMA – being the most obvious pick.Farid’s older brother, Javid Basharat, joined PFL after being let go by the UFC earlier this year and has gotten off to a winning start to life with his new promoter.The UFC can, of course, choose to re-sign Basharat as well, although that seems unlikely.The elephant in the room is that six of Basharat’s seven wins with the UFC were over the distance.Entertainment vs MeritAs we have seen time and time again, winning isn’t always enough.The UFC is an entertainment business, and fighters who don’t entertain often find themselves on the chopping block.We saw this last month with the release of Michael ‘Venom’ Page.MVP, like Basharat, was ranked in the top 15 of his division and sported a winning record (5-1) with the company.Just one of Basharat’s seven wins came inside the distance, which likely explains the UFC’s decision not to re-sign himGettyHowever, his low-output, point-fighting karate style didn’t sit well with UFC brass.It’s a similar story with Jailton Almeida, who was axed in February after repeatedly stalling the action against the cage during his dull unanimous decision defeat to Rizvan Kuniev at UFC Fight Night 266.Almeida had been ranked No.8 at heavyweight at the time and was 8-3 with the UFC.In stark contrast, it took until Tai Tuivasa’s record-equalling eighth consecutive loss for him to finally be released by the UFC.The UFC’s patience was motivated by Tuivasa’s all-action style and relentless pursuit of the finish.talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankingstalkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Joshua Van and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall miss out.