It was bound to happen. Too long has gone between a major UFC fighter getting flagged for a potential doping violation, so Junior dos Santos had to break the cycle. That was a poor choice of words, considering what dos Santos popped for was a substance called hydrochlorothiazide, which is a diuretic banned by USADA because it can be used as a masking agent. According to JDS’ management, they have no idea where the substance came from and have released a statement on the latest news.
Portion of a second statement from Junior dos Santos’s management on USADA situation. pic.twitter.com/kKWTiQkgsq
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 19, 2017
“We do not know where this substance came from. Junior has had his blood and urine randomly tested many times and has never once tested positive for a banned substance. […] Junior thanks Francis for the sympathy, understanding and respect that transpired during their call, and very much looks forward to resolving this situation so that he and Francis can set up a new date to face one another.” — Ana Guedes, Junior dos Santos’ manager, to ESPN.
His opponent, Francis Ngannou, was none too happy about hearing the biggest fight of his career so far was scrapped. Dos Santos and his management intend on setting up another fight with Ngannou, but as we know MMA is a sport that moves really fast. There haven’t been any talks yet, but the UFC may search for a replacement opponent for Ngannou now that Junior dos Santos is out.
The latest UFC 215 card as of right now:
- Demetrious Johnson (c) vs. Ray Borg
- Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Valentina Shevchenko
- Gilbert Melendez vs. Jeremy Stephens
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Neil Magny
- Sara McMann vs. Ketlen Vieira
- Ilir Latifi vs. Tyson Pedro
- Henry Cejudo vs. Wilson Reis
- Rick Glenn vs. Gavin Tucker
- Arjan Bhullar vs. Luis Henrique
- Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Sarah Moras
- Kajan Johnson vs. Adriano Martins
- Mitch Clarke vs. Alex White
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/19/2017.