In order to alleviate the bloated roster, up to 50 fighters could be cut over the course of the next several months. FiveOuncesOfPain.com was the first to report that the UFC made a series of cuts over the weekend that included lightweight Rich Clementi, welterweight Luigi Fioravanti, and middleweight Derek Downey.

Five Ounces of Pain has also learned that American Kickboxing Academy light heavyweight Christian Wellisch and heavyweight Eddie Sanchez can now be added to the list as well.

Wellisch was recently cut in response to his split decision loss against Jake O’Brien nearly two weeks ago at UFC 94 in Las Vegas. Even though the bout marked Wellisch’s first at light heavyweight, the defeat served as his second consecutive loss inside of the Octagon.

It is believed that Sanchez was cut earlier this year in response to his unanimous decision loss to Justin McCully during the “UFC Fight for the Troops” event this past December in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The loss to McCully marked two consecutive defeats for Sanchez after having previously lost at UFC 85 this past June via TKO to Antoni Hardonk.

The report states that Fitch and his camp did not sign the papers and when his management tried to negotiate something with the UFC it became an all or nothing deal. In the end Fitch didn’t sign the agreement and was cut from the company shortly thereafter.

Christian Wellisch was also presented with the same agreement, refused to sign it, and was also cut, according to the report.

Fitch most recently lost in a five round war to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87 in August and was set to take on Gono at UFC 94, a fight that was supposed to take place several months back. It now appears that not only is that fight off but that, for the time being, Fitch’s career inside the Octagon has come to an end.

JZ was ranked nearly across the board as the #1 lightweight in the world prior to a loss to Shinya Aoki at DREAM.2 at the end of April. Though JZ landed some strong punches, Aoki controlled the action and pace of the fight and took home a unanimous decision.

Calvancante was approached about replacing the Japanese fighter, but the 24-year-old American Top Team representative could not come to terms with the promotion and has since left Japan.

That’s a bummer for DREAM, but that’s what happens when you don’t make a clear ruling on the first fight between the two. DREAM deciding that the first fight was a no contest put them in this position. Aoki had expressed a while back that he may not continue on in the tournament regardless of the outcome of the second fight with JZ or whether or not he was injured, so DREAM has no one to blame but themselves for this predicament.

The hotly anticipated Gesias “JZ” Calvancante (14-1-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (12-2) match-up — first promised to the world and then removed from a New Year’s Eve “Yarennoka!” card in Japan — has been reset for a March date in Japan.

American Top Team General Manager Richie Guerrero confirmed the K-1 sanctioned fight during his appearance on Wednesday’s episode of TAGG Radio.

While it seems like the Japanese had no intentions of ever putting this fight on the Yarennoka! card to begin with, it’s good to see that these two guys will eventually get it on inside the ring. This will be one of the most highly anticipated matchups in the first part of 2008 with both of these men ranked in almost everyone’s top ten lightweight rankings if not the top five.