MMA News: David Branch to compete in his first professional fight since being released by UFC

Former UFC Middleweight fighter David Branch will be competing in his first professional fight since his UFC release, as 'The Executive' is set for a showdown against Alexander Shlemenko on the 14th of December at Russian Cagefighting Championship.

What led to David Branch's release from the UFC?

Having re-signed with the UFC in 2017, David Branch competed in the Octagon against some high-profile middleweight fighters including the likes of Luke Rockhold, Thiago Santos, and Jared Cannonier.

In Branch's last two Octagon outings, the 38-year-old suffered two back-to-back losses against Cannonier and in his last UFC fight, Branch lost to Jack Hermansson via first-round guillotine choke.

Shortly afterward, Branch received a 2-year ban from USADA after being tested positive for Ipamorelin a class of Peptide hormones and Growth Urines, of a urine sample he provided out-of-competition on May 24, 2019.

Jared Cannonier's return to MMA

As per announced by the Russian Cagefighting Championship on social media, David Branch will be making his return to fighting later this month against Alexander Shlemenko at RCC 7 on the 14th of December.

The fight was officially announced by RCC this Wednesday, as they made the following announcement on Instagram:

When is RCC 7?

As aforementioned, Russian Cagefighting Championship 7 is set to take place on 14th December 2019 and this will be David Branch's first-ever fight since his release from the UFC.