Jake O'Brien (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), a 23-year-old heavyweight who suffered his first professional loss to Andrei Arlovski in March, has been released from the UFC and has agreed to a two-fight deal with the Palace Fighting Championship.
MMAjunkie today confirmed the turn of events with Ken Pavia, O'Brien's manager.
Needless to say, Pavia was a bit surprised by the UFC's decision to sever ties with O'Brien, a former Purdue University wrestler who had finished eight of his 10 professional victories via knockout -- seven of which came in the first round.
According to Pavia, O'Brien had recently signed a new contract with the UFC and had two fights remaining on the deal.
"Yes, you could say we were surprised by the UFC's decision," Pavia said.
With an upset victory over veteran fighter Heath Herring in January 2007, O'Brien pushed his UFC record to 4-0. However, a few months after the fight, he underwent surgery because of "stingers," a painful nerve injury that originates in the spine. O'Brien went under the knife, and doctors entered through his neck to implant a medal rod and cadaver discs in his spine. At first, doctors feared the injury might be career-ending.
However, O'Brien underwent physical therapy and returned from a 14-month layoff to fight Arlovski, a former UFC title-holder and one of the world's top-ranked heavyweight fighters.
"Jake really wanted that fight at UFC 82," Pavia said. "However, had we known that his tenure with the organization was at risk when we were presented with the Arlovski fight, we may have approached it differently."
O'Brien is the latest known victim in the UFC's recent purge of talent. Rumor has it that the UFC simply had too many fighters under contract, and a couple dozen of them were dropped from the organization in recent weeks.
Pavia says he's regretful that fight fans didn't get to see everything O'Brien had to offer before the decision was made.
"I don't think they've seen the true Jake," he said. "He's still a kid, and he's still learning. He has an identical twin brother who's a Golden Gloves champion, and Jake handles him. However, when he's fighting and when you put him in a high-pressure situation with a big-name opponent, like most fighters, he goes back to what's comfortable for him. His element is wrestling."
The decision to drop O'Brien will probably come as a bit of surprise to fight fans who have seen the UFC recently cut ties with a number of heavyweight fighters. By mid-2007 the UFC's heavyweight division was deeper than ever. Since then, though, current champ Randy Couture has resigned from the organization. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic was given permission to leave his UFC contract to fight in Japan. Former champ Tim Sylvia was also allowed to walk, and former title-holder Arlovski could be right behind him.
"Jake's goal was always to become the UFC's heavyweight champion, and maybe this is the best route for that happen," said Pavia, who hasn't ruled out O'Brien's possible return to the UFC.
O'Brien has agreed in principle to a deal with the PFC. He's expected to sign his contract in the the next few days, and he's scheduled to make his debut with the organization at the July 19 "PFC 9" show in Lemoore, Calif.
"Getting Jake was a great opportunity for us," PFC President Christian Printup told MMAjunkie.com. "We get to work with one of the most promising young athletes today. We've had the pleasure of working with him in the past... He's very personable and talented, and he's good for the sport."
The California-based PFC is one of the country's best-drawing regional promotions and can be seen in approximately six million homes through Comcast, DIRECTV and the DISH Network.
