Undefeated bantamweight Farid Basharat confirms UFC exit after 7-0 run
Undefeated bantamweight Farid Basharat has confirmed that he is leaving the UFC. The 16-0 fighter said on Instagram on October 15 that the promotion did not offer him a new contract after his current deal ran out with his win over John Garza in July, according to Sherdog.
What Basharat said
MMA Junkie reported that Basharat confirmed the UFC is not bringing him back. In his statement he said: "Unfortunately, the organization just isn't what it used to be." He added that his departure "clearly has nothing to do with my fighting capabilities", and that nobody offered him a new contract or an opponent after the Garza fight.
Basharat also said he never turned down a fight during his time with the promotion and that he always competed despite injuries and weight issues. The UFC has not commented publicly on the move, and no official reason has been given.
Dana White responds
Speaking at the post-fight press conference in Edmonton on October 17, UFC CEO Dana White did not name a specific reason, according to MMA Sucka. White said "this isn't the first time this has happened" and suggested that either fighters are difficult to deal with or matchmakers do not want to work with them. He said that when a fighter who is 16-0 with seven UFC wins is not re-signed, "there's definitely a reason". That is White's general comment, and he did not say what the reason is in Basharat's case.
The record
Basharat earned his UFC contract through Dana White's Contender Series and went 7-0 in the promotion, according to Sherdog. Six of those wins came by decision. Pugna MMA's database lists him at 16-0 with one knockout win, five submissions and ten decisions, and ranks him ninth in the UFC bantamweight division as of October 13.
His final three UFC fights all went three rounds to a decision: Chris Gutiérrez at UFC 320 in October 2025, Jean Matsumoto in February 2026, and Garza at UFC 329 on July 11, 2026. Before that he beat Victor Hugo at featherweight at UFC 308 in October 2024.
What comes next
Basharat is now a free agent and has no next fight announced. No new promotion has been confirmed. MMA Mania has also reported on a war of words between Basharat and fellow bantamweight Payton Talbott, who is 12-1 and ranked 11th in the UFC division in our data after a first-round TKO of Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 332 on October 3. We could not read the details of that exchange, so it is not covered here.
Where Basharat signs next is not yet known, and the UFC has not said whether it will respond to his criticism of the promotion.
Sources
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