UFC 217 Loses a Fight After Ion Cutelaba Flagged for Potential Doping Violation
UFC 217 is down to 11 fights after one bout was scrapped on Friday
November 3, 2017
UFC 217 will move forward with 11 bouts after Ion Cutelaba was flagged for a potential doping violation by USADA on Friday.
UFC officials announced the news just 24 hours ahead of the event in New York on Saturday night.
“The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Ion Cutelaba of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from its investigation into voluntary disclosures by Cutelaba during an out-of-competition sample collections on October 18 and October 19, 2017,” UFC officials wrote.
“USADA has provisionally suspended Cutelaba and his fight against Michal Oleksiejczuk has been cancelled from the November 4, 2017, UFC 217 fight card.”
There’s no further word on what Cutelaba disclosed on his testing form when USADA took his sample but obviously it was enough to raise a red flag and land him in hot water.
Cutelaba will remain on provisional suspension as USADA sorts out the details of a potential doping violation but he will no longer be allowed to fight on Saturday night.
Cutelaba’s fight was featured on the UFC Fight Pass portion of the card, which will now move forward with only two bouts this weekend.
