Two-time heavyweight title challenger Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello has been left without a home as far as his mixed martial arts career is concerned, as FiveOuncesofPain.com has recently learned from sources close to the situation that the heavy handed thirty-six year old veteran has been released from the UFC.

Buentello’s dismissal from the UFC comes on the heels of a bizrarre defeat suffered at the hands of Cheick Kongo during the inaugural “UFC on Versus” event where the veteran of nearly forty profefessional scraps wound up on the receiving end of a beatdown from Kongo that included a dislocated finger, knee strikes while downed, and ultimately some punishing elbow strikes to the thigh that forced the bout’s conclusion.

Buentello had challenged for the UFC heavyweight crown back in October of 2005, but wound up being flattened in lighting quick fashion at the hands of Andrei Arlovski. Buentello didn’t fare very much better in his next attempt at championship glory when “The Headhunter” wound up being TKO’d by Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce strap in November of 2007.

A return to Strikeforce would seem unlikely at best in the near future for Buentello being that Strikeforce President Scott Coker made his opinion of the four-time Strikeforce vet quite clear during the previous parting of ways between fighter and promotion that took place in late 2009.

“We offered Paul a six-figure contract to fight Fedor, but he turned it down,” said Coker in a statement released in September of 2009. “His decision is understandable considering Fedor’s level of skill but, at the same time, Paul didn’t really fit into our plans. He’s been a solid journeyman fighter and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Buentello entered the UFC on a two fight winning streak with a pair of wins over the likes of Gary Goodridge and “Baby Fedor”, Kirill Sidelnikov, but will be leaving with a pair of defeats suffered to Stefan Struve, and most recently, Kongo.