On Tuesday, the United States Anti-Doping Agency suspended Fabrício Werdum (23-8-1) from UFC fighting for two years. The Brazilian fighter, commonly known as “Vai Cavalo,” will not be able to participate again until May of 2020.
On April 25th, the USADA conducted a urine screening test on the 41-year-old fighter. He tested positive for steroids trenbolone and epitrenbolone, which are both classified as illegal substances by the USADA. UFC drug testing policies have recently been surrounded by a great deal of controversy. In May, the USADA announced that it will honor athletes who have passed 25 tests by giving them t-shirts and launching the motto “Train Clean, Fight Clean.” Athletes have spoken up about these rules. In 2015, Conor McGregor accused his Jose Aldo of cheating on the drug tests.
Werdum is well-known for his streak of wins during 2010 through 2015. This streak began when he beat Russia’s Fedor Emelianenko in under 69 seconds. He also beat Travis Browne, Roy Nelson, Cain Velasquez, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He lost his most recent fight to Alexander Volkov in the fourth round in March at UFC Fight Night 127.
Werdum was scheduled to fight Aleksei Oleinik (56-11-1). The fight is now between Aleksei Oleinik and Mark Hunt (13-12-1) and will take place at Fight Night 136 this coming Saturday at Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Werdum beat Hunt back in 2014 with a TKO in the second round. Other heavyweights fighting at UFC Moscow will be Andrei Arlovski (27-16-0) against Shamil Abdurakhimov (18-4-0.) The co-main event will be light heavyweights Jan Blachowicz (22-7-0) versus Nikita Krylov (24-5-0.)
Featured Image via Mike Dunn
