Junior dos Santos pulled from UFC 215 due to potential USADA violation

Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos is out of his UFC 215 fight with Francis Ngannou after being notified of a potential U.S. Anti-Doping Agency violation.

Per policy, the nature of the potential violation, which was the result of an out-of-competition test administered on Aug. 10, was not revealed. Potential sanctions, if any, won’t be decided until there is a formal hearing.

The 33-year-old dos Santos held the heavyweight title in 2011-12, both winning the title from Cain Velasquez and losing it back to him. He’s lost two out of his past three fights, including a first-round TKO loss to current champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 211.

There has not yet been a response from the dos Santos camp, who can appeal the results.

The UFC is working on finding a replacement opponent for Ngannou on the Sept. 9 card in Edmonton, Canada.

Ngannou, for his part, doesn’t seem to be giving dos Santos the benefit of the doubt.