It hasn’t been the best year for Chris Barnett, who went viral for knocking out Gian Villante at UFC 268 with an amazing spinning headkick. Fans always expect entertainment when he enters the Octagon, but unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case in his last two outings, at least.

In the latest round of cuts from the UFC, the one name that was on the list and made it to the headlines was Chris Barnett. The heavyweight fighter first suffered a devastating defeat against Kennedy Nzechukwu via first-round TKO, followed by a unanimous decision loss to Hamdy Abdelwahab at UFC 321 (Oct 25, 2025). In the same matchup, Barnett had an awkward wardrobe malfunction, and it’s safe to assume he lost a lot of stock abruptly.

Barnett, who has a career record of 23 wins and 10 losses, including a 2-4 record at the UFC, has also been dealing with a rough patch in life. While he witnessed a decline in his professional career in 2024, his personal struggles began much earlier, in 2022.

Barnett suffered a massive emotional blow in 2022 when his wife lost her battle to cancer and tragically passed away. The tough and entertaining UFC heavyweight fighter who was up for every fight thrown at him in the Octagon was not ready for this emotional battle. Thirty hours before the Buday fight, Barnett claimed he had to make a tough decision regarding his critically ill wife; she tragically passed away weeks later in May 2022.

But Barnett is a tough personality, and he was able to continue both in his life and in the Octagon with the same passion. His latest performance led to him being cut from the UFC. However, he is not alone, as Hamdy Abdelwahab has also been released, which means that Heavyweight remains one of the UFC’s leaner divisions, and recent removals further thin the depth.

Neither of the releases went unnoticed, but when a fan-favorite heavyweight departs, it’s natural for social media to get inundated with messages in support of the fighter. The same happened with Barnett.

Messages of Support Flood In after Barnett departs from UFC

Just when fans were beginning to move past two back-to-back defeats for Barnett, they were hit hard with the devastating news of his release from the UFC. They were quick to react to their favorite heavyweight, who will always be remembered for his outrageous spin kick KO win over Gian Villante.

The middleweight professional fighter Bruce Xavier, also known as “The Red Wolf,” mentioned Barnett as a sweet prince in his tweet and was shocked to hear the news. “My honest reaction to waking up and finding out the UFC has cut Chris Barnett RIP Sweet Prince, thanks for the memories,” Xavier tweeted.

Sports Broadcaster Ben Davis was also devastated by the news and mentioned the official release of Barnett in his tweet with a crying emoji. “The UFC has officially cut Chris Barnett,” Davis tweeted. MMA content creator Kevin’s tweet was more about just breaking the news, “ROSTER UPDATE Chris Barnett Has Been Removed From The UFC Roster”.

But the messages in support of Barnett weren’t confined to his professional loss, as fans remembered what Barnett had gone through in the last two to three years. A fan mentioned Barnett’s personal struggle as well while mentioning the shocking news of his UFC departure: “Damn man, he lost his wife to cancer then got cut from UFC, feel bad for him”.

Another X user didn’t forget to mention the other two names that have been removed along with Barnett: “Chris Barnett, Kiefer Crosbie, and Kurt Holobaugh have been removed from the http://UFC.com roster.”

Barnett will be a free agent after his release from the UFC after 4 years and 5 months in the promotion. Although it’s a big setback for Barnett, he knows how to bounce back when life isn’t fair, and fans will be hoping he will do the same now.