On Friday, the UFC announced that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos had potentially failed a drug test given to him by the U.S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
As a result, Dos Santos has been temporarily suspended and has been removed from his upcoming fight.
After the news broke of Dos Santos’ failed drug test, his manager, Ana Guedes, sent a statement to ESPN.
Dos Santos’ team strongly denies that their fighter took any performance-enhancing drugs.
Dos Santos’ failed test came from an out-of-competition sample taken on Aug. 10.
The former heavyweight champion was scheduled to fight heavyweight prospect Francis Ngannou at UFC 215 on Sept. 9 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The UFC is currently seeking a replacement to fight Ngannou at that event.
Dos Santos is coming off a first-round knockout loss to UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic back in May at UFC 211.
Here’s their statement:
“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.”
