Why did the UFC cut Askar Askar?

Askar Askar is no longer a part of UFC. The UFC released him after discovering that he could get medical clearance to fight Cody Stamann at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Volkov, resulting in the cancelation of the fight a few hours before the event started.

The news was first broken by Aaron Bronsteter of TSN sports via his Twitter handle and was later confirmed to MMA Fighting by UFC officials with knowledge of the incident.

Am told that Askar Askar has been released from the UFC after not being medically cleared to compete this past weekend against Cody Stamann.He is seeking medical clearance to resume competition sometime this week and hopes to get re-signed in the near future.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 9, 2021

Not to be confused with UFC flyweight contender Askar Askarov, 26-year-old Askar Askar is a bantamweight fighting out of Orlando Park, Illinois. Askar fought for LFA, Titan FC and HFC for most of his career and holds a respectable 11-1 record in as a professional with six knockouts and one submission win to his credit. The only loss of his career was a first-round knockout against Saidyokub Kakhromonov in January 2020. Askar defeated fellow bantamweight Kevin Wirth via decision in his last fight with the LFA before signing a contract with the UFC.

Askar Askar hopes to return to the UFC

Slated to make as his debut with the UFC, Askar Askar's scheduled fight with No. 13 ranked bantamweight fighter Cody Stamann (19-3-1) was a last-minute booking after Stamann's original opponent Andre Ewell was forced out of the clash due to a positive Covid-19 test. Ewell later revealed that the test results were false, but he had to quarantine himself for ten days nevertheless.

I want to apologize to the fans 🙏🏽. If you haven’t heard I got pulled from this Saturday due to a false positive COVID test. Granted that I sent in 2 test that showed I was negative for COVID I was placed on a 10 day hold ( Doc’s orders ). pic.twitter.com/YoH7TjCs2w

— Andre Ewell (@daii24_dre) February 2, 2021

The nature of the medical issues that led to Askar Askar's release is unclear but 26-year-old has lost a significant opportunity to fight a ranked fighter in the stacked bantamweight division for his debut. A potential win over Stamann would have opened the doors to big opportunities for Askar Askar, but the Illinois native may have to wait a while. MMA Junkie reported earlier this week that Askar Askar is seeking medical clearance and will make an attempt to re-sign a contract with the UFC.

UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Volkov took place at UFC Apex facility, Las Vegas, Nevada on February 6, 2021. The event marked a change of guard in the UFC as seasoned veterans of the sport Frankie Edgar and Alistair Overeem lost to young up-and-coming contenders Cory Sandhagen and Alexander Volkov in the co-main and the main event respectively. The fight of the night performance was put on by lightweight contenders Beneil Dariush and Carlos Diego Ferreira on the main card. Dariush won the fight via split decision.