UFC 215 in Edmonton has just lost one of its big-name fighters off of the card. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos has been flagged for a potential USADA violation. The release from the UFC:
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Junior Dos Santos of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on Aug. 10, 2017. Because of the proximity to Dos Santos’ upcoming scheduled bout at UFC 215 in Edmonton, Canada against Francis Ngannou, Dos Santos has been removed from the card and the UFC is currently seeking a replacement.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Dos Santos. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
JDS’s scheduled opponent for the event isn’t too happy about this development.
https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/898655882153558016
Dos Santos’s manager not surprisingly denied the allegations in a statement released to MMA Fighting:
“We are still trying to understand the test results, so that we can investigate and determine what happened. What we know as of now is that Junior dos Santos has never taken PEDs, has never knowingly used any banned substances, and has always supported USADA’s policies and efforts to keep the sport clean.
If ever there was a fighter who made his position on this issue unequivocal, it’s Junior. We are confident that that we will be able to figure out what happened, and will provide an explanation once we have one.”
UFC 215 goes down on September 9th, with Demetrious Johnson vs Ray Borg topping the card.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
