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Lavar Johnson released from UFC following failed drug test, back-to-back losses

By Ariel Helwani
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Lavar Johnson's UFC career, at least for now, has come to an unceremonious conclusion.

The hard-hitting heavyweight has been released from his UFC contract, the promotion confirmed with MMAFighting.com Thursday. MMAJunkie.com first reported the news.

Johnson went 2-2 inside the Octagon. After winning his first two bouts in impressive fashion, "Big" lost his last two fights in a row, most recently dropping a unanimous decision to Brendan Schaub at UFC 157 last month.

Following the fight, the California State Athletiic Commission confirmed that Johnson tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone. According to a report by MMAFighting.com's Dave Meltzer, who confirmed the news with UFC officials, Johnson had first tested positive for an elevated testosterone/epitestosterone ratio when the post-fight urine test results returned last week. The CSAC then administered Carbon Isotope Ratio (CIR) test on Johnson, which confirmed the initial test results.

As a result, Johnson, who did not apply for a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy, was suspended for nine months by the CSAC. That suspension coupled with his recent losing streak made him expendable.

The 35-year-old Johnson leaves the UFC with a 17-7 record.

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