James Llontop gave it all he had against one of the most exciting up-and-coming fighters in the UFC at UFC 309 in New York in November—and he did it on short notice.
Llontop came up short against Brazil’s Mauricio Ruffy, as the Fighting Nerds product simply had too much firepower for the rugged Peruvian.
On Monday, news spread that Llontop was released by the UFC, and his next fight would be with the Fusion FC promotion, per The Matchmaker.
Llontop earned his way onto the UFC’s roster with a unanimous decision win over Malik Lewis on the Contender Series in September 2023.
Unfortunately for Llontop, he had three fights with the UFC and lost them all. He missed weight in two of those fights, though the situation against Ruffy was understandable because Llontop stepped in to fight on short notice.
Llontop knew he was likely fighting for his spot on the roster, and he performed like a man trying to save his job. In Llontop’s main roster debut against Chris Padilla in April 2024, he came in as a heavy favorite.
However, he missed weight by 1.5 pounds and lost via first-round submission. Llontop was originally supposed to fight Lando Vannata and then Gabe Green in his main roster debut, but they pulled out, leaving him with the fight against Padilla.
Four months later, Llontop lost a close split decision to Viacheslav Borshchev, which really put the 25-year-old up against it. What Llontop has in toughness, he seems to lack in conditioning and grappling skills.
He’s mostly a brawler whose game may not be layered enough for major success with any top promotion in mixed martial arts.
FFC is familiar ground for Llontop. That’s the promotion he was in before he got his opportunity with the Contender Series. Llontop was the FFC welterweight champion when he made the jump to the UFC. Because he’s just 25, Llontop has an opportunity to make it back to the UFC.
Even if he doesn’t return immediately, a few wins on the independent circuit—or perhaps with the Professional Fighters League—and Llontop could be back on the UFC’s radar.
Llontop also seems like an excellent candidate for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a fighter who takes a better punch, and he delivers a powerful blow with his hands.
It’ll be interesting to see if he ever pursues a run with BKFC.
Next Up: UFC Vegas 101
The next UFC event happens on January 11 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Here is a look at the entire card.
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas – Strawweight
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris – Welterweight
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. César Almeida – Middleweight
- Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov – Middleweight
- Austin Bashi vs. Christian Rodriguez – Featherweight
- Punahele Soriano vs. Uroš Medić – Welterweight
- Jose Johnson vs. Felipe Bunes – Flyweight
- Marco Túlio vs. Ihor Potieria – Middleweight
- Thiago Moisés vs. Trey Ogden – Lightweight
- Andreas Gustafsson vs. Preston Parsons – Welterweight
- Ernesta Kareckaite vs. Nicolle Caliari – Flyweight
- Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes – Light Heavyweight
- Viktoriia Dudakova vs. Fatima Kline – Strawweight
- Nurullo Aliev vs. Yanal Ashmouz – Lightweight
