One-time middleweight prospect David Terrell (not to be confused with welterweight Dave Terrel of the WEC) has been formally released by the UFC, according to a report by GracieFighter.com:

David Terrell has been officialy released from his UFC contract. He first debuted in the UFC back in August of 2004 where he shocked the MMA world with a vicious knockout win over heavily favored Matt Linland in the early seconds of the 1st round. He then lost a title fight against Evan Tanner and then rebounded by beating Scott Smith in April of 2006.

Unfortunatelty that was the last we saw of Terrell fighting in the Octagon. Plagued by injuries and unhappy with the financial terms of his bout agreements, Terrell sat out the remainder of his contract. Now focused on getting his career back on track, Terrell will be looking to signing and fighting with another organization.

Terrell had been scheduled to return at UFC 78 this past November against Ed Herman. However, he pulled out of the fight after injuring his ankle during training and was replaced by Joe Doerksen.

GracieFighter.com is operated by Cesar Gracie, who is Terrell’s MMA trainer. Terrell is also one of only two people to receive black belts from Gracie, with Nick Diaz being the other. The report on the site confirms rumors that had been circulating which suggested that Terrell was unhappy with his contracted pay from the UFC. There were even those close to Terrell who believe that he would have competed in spite of some of his injuries had he been happier with his pay.

The report on Gracie Fighter also makes it clear that Terrell wants to continue his MMA career with another organization. The odds-on favorite is EliteXC, which already has a relationship with Gracie through deals with Diaz and Jake Shields.

Newer fans will be unfamiliar with Terrell because he’s competed just once during the “TUF era,” but let me tell you that at one point he was ticketed for stardom in the sport. Name an athlete in a mainstream sport that had All-Star potential but never reached that level because of durability issues, and that’s David Terrell.