Yancy Medeiros found himself in a tough spot last year when he was let go from the UFC. The Hawaiian had been in the UFC since 2013 after the promotion purchased Strikeforce back in the day.

The UFC has a rule about cutting fighters after three straight losses. Some fighters are given the opportunity to fight a fourth time depending on their relationship with the promotion. Yancy Medeiros wasn't able to get back on track and the promotion opted not to re-sign him.

“They didn't re-sign me,” Medeiros told ClutchPoints about his UFC release. “I usually re-sign after my third fight going into my contract or the second to the last fight. Unfortunately, I didn't perform well in my last four fights and business is business, regardless of how I feel. That just kind of made me go ‘hey do you really want this?' It's like a roller coaster. I know what I signed up for. There are highs and lows. I'm still gonna ride it though and I'm gonna keep going through it. Unfortunately, we didn't get to re-sign. So I have to prove myself again to and whatever company picks me up. I have just been grinding ever since my last fight. Trying to get better. I stay positive, stay happy. Nothing changed on my end. I just still doing me bro. That's all I can do. Right?”

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Many fighters have moments where they start to think about if they still want to compete in MMA. Getting released from the UFC can be tough mentally and forces athletes to take a step back and reevaluate their careers.

“For me, I've always thought about stuff like that, like, ‘Oh, should I keep doing this?' and I have thought about it. But it's more like everything I ever did was for the experience. I lived my life for an experience. When I was in high school, I wasn't thinking that I was going to be a fighter. I wasn't thinking that I was going to entertain people but I just fell into it. I took a ride and I liked it and I love it right now and it's built me. Fighting has been the key vocation that's let me travel the road and make me be a better human being and I've been liking that so far. So it'll be whatever goes into my next journey it will be my next journey. But for right now, I know I was put here to fight and entertain. And that's what my path is right now. Make people happy along the way.”

Yancy Medeiros is hoping to bounce back from his release with the UFC by fighting on Bellator's upcoming show in Hawaii. Bellator 279 currently has a few open slots and he's hoping to return at either 155 or 170.