Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Saturday’s UFC pay-per-view card is down to 11 bouts.
UFC 240 is down a fight just days before the card is scheduled to take place.
UFC newcomer Giacomo Lemos was removed from his heavyweight bout with Tanner Boser due to a positive drug test, MMA Junkie reported Thursday evening. There was not sufficient time to find a replacement to fight Boser.
It is currently unclear what substance Lemos tested positive for, according to MMA Fighting.
Boser will receive his show money and Reebok money, per TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter.
Lemos signed with the UFC after a TKO win at AFC 11 in April. The Brazilian is 6-0 as a professional MMA fighter and all of his wins have come by way of stoppage.
Boser was also scheduled to make his UFC debut on the card. In his last fight, he defended the Unified MMA title with a fourth-round TKO of Jared Kilkenny. Boser, an Alberta native, is 16-5-1 as a pro.
Boser said in a Facebook post Thursday he is “absolutely devastated” he will not be fighting at UFC 240.
“I thought it was strange that Lemos wouldn’t make eye contact with me at all whenever I saw him at the hotel,” Boser wrote. “I know now that it’s because he’s a coward.”
Boser said the promotion told him it will get him on another card against a different opponent as soon as possible.
UFC 240, which will proceed with 11 bouts, takes place Saturday in Edmonton. In the main event, featherweight champion Max Holloway meets Frankie Edgar.