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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Leonard Garcia's fifth straight loss in the UFC on Saturday night may be his last in the organization, as it was a thorough defeat at the hands of Cody McKenzie. He's seemed untouchable in the UFC to this point, but that may have finally changed.
After a loss to Max Holloway in December at UFC 155, Garcia seemed like he had finally reached the end of his rope with the UFC after four straight losses. However, UFC President Dana White wasn't going to let that happen at that point.
"Sean Shelby, one of our matchmakers, came to me during the fight sometime and, I guess Leonard Garcia was in a situation to be cut if he lost tonight, and [Shelby] came to me and said, ‘Dana, I don’t wanna cut this guy,'" White said in December after the event. "I said there's no way in hell we're cutting Leonard Garcia!"
It was an odd hard line to take, and continued a string of Garcia being rewarded with further fights for his brawling style that ultimately wasn't that effective in the cage. It had swayed some judges in the past, but dating back to his WEC Title fight with Mike Brown in 2009, there was a reasonable argument that he'd legitimately lost 11 fights in a row.
His only wins in that stretch all came by split decision, and along with a split draw all had reasonable arguments for a Garcia loss as well. So when he became the rare fighter to stay on the roster with four straight losses, especially in a time where so many fighters were getting cut or would be in short order, it led to some uproar.
Now he may have finally reached the end after the McKenzie loss. It wasn't just that he lost that works against him, because that hasn't been as big a deal in the past, it was how badly he was defeated. He was out grappled, out struck, and out worked by McKenzie for the entirety of the fight, and even though he still stole one round for one judge, it was as clear a defeat as he's suffered by decision. And after the fight, even White had to come around to reality.
"I don't want to say it, but it's not looking good," he said of Garcia's UFC future after the event (via MMAJunkie.com). He got beat. He even got beat standing up. Cody McKenzie beat him tonight, every way you can beat a guy."
Penick's Analysis: It's not Garcia's fault that his ineffectual brawling has been enabled and rewarded for the last four years, but he was taking up space on a roster that is supposed to feature the best fighters in the world, and that's not a label that applies to him in 2013. Given how many cuts have been made and how many fighters haven't gotten the opportunity to stay on after one loss, let alone four straight, keeping him around into this fight didn't make sense, and he was thoroughly defeated again. He's not the fighter he had been when he earned his shot against Mike Brown, and unfortunately for him it's time for him to be off the biggest stage.
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_16644.shtml
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