Tom Breese Removed From UFC Rankings Pool Amid Recent Withdrawal From UFC Vegas 28 Bout

UFC middleweight, Tom Breese has been removed from the UFC’s fans ranking pool, amid his recent last-minute withdrawal from a scheduled UFC Vegas 28 bout with Antonio Arroyo at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Breese, 29, was slated to open the main card portion of UFC Vegas 28 from ‘Sin City’ against Arroyo, however, the broadcast team, comprised of play-by-play lead, Brendan Fitzgerald, and color-commentators, Michael Bisping, and Dominick Curz, announced just before the scheduled bout that an undisclosed medical issue had forced Breese to officially withdraw from the bout.

Per a report from TSN reporter, Aaron Bronsteter earlier today, the Birmingham native had been officially removed from the organization’s fan’s ranking pool, which allows the community to create their own separate rankings from the official system comprised by the promotion. 

As or writing, it is currently unknown if Breese has been released from the UFC following last week’s withdrawal, however, former middleweight contender, Ronaldo Souza, and former welterweight titleholder, Tyron Woodley were both removed from the official fan’s ranking pools before they officially parted ways with the UFC. 

Breese, who has competed eight times under the promotion’s scrutiny since linking up with them back in May of 2015, and established an impressive 5-3 promotional résumé. 

The former BAMMA welterweight champion made the move to the middleweight ranks five fights deep into his run with the UFC, taking home a Performance of the Night bonus via a first round knockout win over Dan Kelly on home soil at UFC Fight Night Liverpool back in May of 2018. 

The Team Renagade BJJ & MMA trainee had begun his UFC run in scintillating form — scoring victories over Luiz Dutra Jr. and Cathal Pendred within the distance, prior to a unanimous decision win over Keita Nakamura.

In his first promotional blemish, which also came as his first professionally, Breese faltered opposite upcoming UFC Fight Night headliner, Sean Strickland in a split decision loss. In between wins over both the above-mentioned, Kelly and KB Bhullar, Breese blemished against Roufusport finisher, Brendan Allen, and in his most recent Octagon walk at UFC Fight Island 8 in January in Abu Dhabi, UAE suffered a second round arm-triangle loss to Omari Akhmedov. 

Last weekend’s withdrawal came as the fourth such occasion in which Breese was forced out of a bout, following scratched pairings against Oluwale Bamgbose, Cezar Ferreira, and Ian Heinisch — the latter of which as a result of an anxiety attack.