The UFC’s attempt to bring ‘violence’ back to the heavyweight division looks questionable, due to a short-notice signing for its upcoming London fight card.’ Dana White and Co recently cut Jailton Almeida from the roster after a series of lackluster performances. While the UFC tries to send a message with the move, they recently signed Almieda’s teammate to save a heavyweight bout on the card, and fans aren’t happy.

On March 21, the promotion is going to London with their Fight Night card, headlined by Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev’s featherweight showdown. On the card, English-Portuguese Mario Pinto was set to face Mick Parkin in a highly anticipated heavyweight bout. But, due to undisclosed reasons, Parkin had to withdraw from the clash, and Jailton Almeida’s teammate Felipe Franco will now face Pinto at the O2 Arena, saving the London event from a big collapse.

“Felipe Franco has signed with the UFC to replace Mick Parkin vs. Mario Pinto at UFC London on March 21, multiple sources told me,” MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz posted on X.

For those who don’t know, Felipe Franco isn’t actually a very unknown name to UFC fans. Last year, the Brazilian heavyweight took part in Dana White’s Contender Series, hoping to make a statement and get a contract. However, the result went very differently from his expectations. In a three-round fight, ‘Negão’ became exhausted and lost via rear-naked choke with only 12 seconds remaining on the clock.

Following that performance, Franco not only lost his undefeated record but also much of the credibility around doing well in the UFC’s heavyweight division. But even after failing to break through the gates of the promotion, Dana White and Co signed him back after only a year of failure, a decision which fans didn’t seem to like very much.

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As the news of the recently axed UFC heavyweight fighter’s 25-year-old teammate started making rounds, fans began calling out the UFC for what they see as a bad signing, essentially pointing out that their reshaping of the heavyweight division is going completely wrong.

Fans call out UFC over signing Felipe Franco for the UFC London event

One fan quickly chimed in and ferociously wrote, “Dumbest signing in UFC history, mark my words. Felipe Franco is straight up a—s.” Then another user commented harshly on Franco’s DWCS performance, “Worst undefeated fighter i’ve ever seen on DWCS. The sentiment around the Brazilian’s credibility remained the same as another fan wrote, “He’s fighting cans.”

Well, as UFC fans have been showing their wrath toward ‘Negão’ over his Contender Series loss, the Bahia native’s performances outside the DWCS have also been questionable. For example, before fighting on Contender Series, Franco defeated debutant Murilo Magalhães at Qualify Combat 14, while he was 7-0. And that discrepancy became even more stark after fighting under DWCS. 

After the most decisive loss of his career, Franco returned to the local scene and defeated a 41-year-old, clearly past his prime, Kleberson Tavares at Coliseu Extreme Fight last year, which stands as his most recent victory. Because of that, fans have been labeling the Brazilian heavyweight as below-par by UFC standards and are convinced that Mario Pinto would completely dominate him at UFC London.

A fan commented on Franco reaching the UFC, “Quite literally one of the worst fighters to reach the UFC level.” After that, another user followed, predicting it’s going to be a complete mismatch at UFC London, “Yeah Its a complete mismatch, then again I don’t know what the regional scene looks like for short-notice heavyweight prospects. I don’t hate it because Pinto can use the experience.” But the reactions didn’t stop there.

Foreseeing an easy win for the Portuguese-English fighter, another fan believes, “Franco was genuinely one of the least UFC-ready fighters I’ve ever seen on DWCS; he’s going to leave the cage on a stretcher against Pinto.” Although a heavyweight fight can indeed bring some surprises, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Mario definitely carries the favorite tag going into this fight.

That said, what do you think about the UFC signing Felipe Franco? Would he actually become an asset in the future, or turn out to be underwhelming? Let us know in the comments section below.