from mmajunkie.com:
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC), a highly touted light heavyweight who joined the UFC last year, has been dropped from the organization following a recent loss to Luis Cane.
The PRIDE veteran and Team Quest fighter went 1-2 in the UFC.
News of his release comes from a variety of reports, including one from fiveouncesofpain.com.
Following high-profile victories over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona in the Japanese-based PRIDE in 2007 -- victories that earned Sokoudjou a top-10 ranking in some major polls -- the 24-year-old Cameroonian fighter signed with the UFC.
He made his octagon debut at UFC 79 and suffered a second-round submission loss to Loyoto Machida. He rebounded for a first-round TKO of Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 84 before he was tagged with a TKO loss to Cane at UFC 89.
He appeared an unlikely candidate to be dropped from the UFC so quickly, but his sizable contract likely played a factor. At UFC 79 and UFC 84 -- the two events in which fight purses were disclosed -- Sokoudjou's contract called for $40,000 to show and an additional $40,000 as win bonuses.
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