Jake Hadley, who wasn’t re-signed after his shock loss at UFC Fight Night 245, says being a “company man” hasn’t paid off

It didn’t take long for the UFC’s matchmaking team and crew to choose Jake Hadley after his third loss in four fights.

Hadley will have to work his way back into the UFC after a surprising loss on the main card at UFC Fight Night 245 last Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Hadley announced the news on social media on Wednesday, but was careful to emphasize that his contract had expired and he had “not been terminated.”

Hadley (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) was the biggest favorite on the card at more than 6-1 against Smotherman (12-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who took the fight with just a few days’ notice after Brady Hiestand got out. But Smotherman outlasted him over 15 minutes and took a unanimous decision.

“I have not been terminated, my contract has expired,” Hadley posted on social media. “In my last two fights as a company member, I took two big risks and it bit me in the butt. I took a block with my head on a week’s notice, but missed the weight that was obviously going against me, and then went on that with three days’ notice after originally training for a week Cam Gone Wrestling Based Opponent I understand Cam hasn’t done camp but everyone is always ready for 3×5 seconds. Cmon. I proved that vs. Block Head accepted the fight on the expected date because the fight was offered and I didn’t want to say no to the UFC and be a company man, but oh well, if I decide to go back to the UFC , I know I can do it again, no problem.”

Hadley won the Cage Warriors flyweight title in late 2020. Ten months later, he took part in a fight on Dana White’s Contender Series and earned his way into the UFC – despite missing weight.

After a loss in his promotional debut, he won two consecutive fights against Carlos Candelario and Malcolm Gordon, the latter being a 61-second knockout worth an additional $50,000.

But then came back-to-back losses to Cody Durden and Charles Johnson at flyweight, and he missed weight when he moved up to bantamweight for a fight with Caolan Loughran earlier this year, which he referenced in his post.

The Smotherman defeat was the nail in the coffin for the 28-year-old Brit’s UFC tenure.

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s UFC Fight Night 245 event hub.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Not re-signed after surprising loss at UFC Fight Night 245, Jake Hadley says being a “company man” didn’t pay off