One week after the UFC cut loose top 15 ranked Francis Carmont, they've rid themselves of a former top 15 fighter. Bantamweight Mike Easton was given his pink slip more than 3 months after his loss vs. Yves Jabouin sent him to his 4th straight defeat. Fox Sports' Marc Raimondi confirmed the move earlier today:

Just confirmed with UFC officials that Mike Easton has indeed been released by the organization. — Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) September 23, 2014

Easton (13-5) was signed by the UFC in 2010 on the heels of the widely regarded "robbery" split decision win over Chase Beebe in Virginia. After reeling off wins over Byron Bloodworth, Jared Papazian, and Ivan Menjivar, Easton fell off the rails and dropped decisions to Raphael Assuncao, Brad Pickett, T.J. Dillashaw, and most recently Jabouin. The losses soon became secondary to his continued ties with Team Lloyd Irvin even after the likes of Dominick Cruz and Brandon Vera distanced themselves with the highly controversial BJJ instructor.

Prior to his release, Easton was clinging to 15th in thte UFC's official bantamweight rankings, but he's since been overtaken by Masanori Kanehara. When you consider that two of his three UFC wins came against fighters who went a combined 0-5 in the promotion, you have to question why the voting panel continued to place him in the top 15 even after losing to Jabouin (who at no point since their June meeting has been ranked ahead of Easton).

At 31 years old, Easton looks the part of someone who has severely regressed over the past 2 years, and whether it's staying with TLI, overrating his skills to begin with, or just "getting old early" and moving past his athletic peak, he badly needs to put together some good showings wherever he heads next. For someone whose wrestling was one of his bigger strengths, getting worked by kickboxer Jabouin in the takedown game is almost embarrassing. It'll be interesting to see whether Bellator, WSOF, or Titan FC comes calling, or if he heads back to the local scene in the DC-area.