NO MORE THAN a day after a heavyweight showdown between Fabricio Werdum and Ukranian-Russian Alexey Oleynik was reported to be the headline act at the UFC’s inaugural event in Russia, former champion Werdum has been flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a potential doping violation.
ESPN-bound Ariel Helwani reported on MMA Fighting yesterday that the pair, who share 55 victories via submission, would top the bill at UFC Moscow on 15 September.
Werdum [23-8-1] called out Oleynik [56-11-1] on Twitter following the latter’s first-round ezekiel-choke victory over Junior Albini at UFC 224 10 days ago, and was set to be granted his wish at the watershed event in the Russian capital.
The Brazilian, however, has failed a USADA drug test conducted out of competition. His positive test stems from a sample collected on 25 April. He now faces a UFC anti-doping violation, but the substance for which he tested positive for was not released, per policy.
A UFC statement released this evening read:
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Fabricio Werdum of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on April 25, 2018.
“USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Werdum. 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.”
Werdum’s manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz, told MMA Fighting that there has thus far been no correspondence from the UFC which would indicate that the bout with Olyenik is off.
Abdel-Aziz also insisted that his client is innocent, attributing the positive test to “a misunderstanding.”
“The entire UFC staff and I are all working together to solve this problem,” he said. “I’m very confident it will be OK. It’s a misunderstanding. Something is off. Fabricio did not take anything illegal.”
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