Ion Cutelaba off UFC 217 card due to potential USADA violation
Saturday’s UFC 217 card is down a fight.
Light heavyweight Ion Cutelaba was forced out of his scheduled bout against Michael Oleksiejczuk due to a potential violation of the organization’s anti-doping policy.
UFC officials were notified of the issue Friday, on the eve the event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Because of the proximity to the event, no replacement opponent will be sought for Oleksiejczuk.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees the UFC’s testing program, provisionally suspended Cutelaba upon investigation of voluntary disclosures by the 23-year-old fighter during collection of out-of-competition samples on Oct. 18 and 19.
“USADA will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Cutelaba,” a statement from the organization read. “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.”
Cutelaba has won two of his last three fights and is coming off a 22-second knockout of Henrique da Silva in June.
UFC 217 now has 11 fights on the card, including three championship bouts on the 7 p.m. pay-per-view broadcast.
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