It looks like yet another fight has been cancelled for this weekend’s show in Tampa, Florida as reports are out that Islam Makhachev was flagged by USADA for a banned substance.
When it rains it pours. First Shogun got hurt, then Ferguson got hurt, then Lyoto Machida admitted using banned substances and was pulled from the card, and now it looks like Islam Makhachev has been removed from his fight with Drew Dober following a pre-fight drug test failure. The two men were scheduled for a prelim bout at this week’s UFC on Fox 19 in Tampa, Florida on April 16th.
Ariel Helwani reported the news via Twitter, and Bloody Elbow has had confirmation from other sources close to the situation that the training partner of Khabib Nurmagmedov has indeed been removed from the card.
Tomorrow’s Makhachev vs. Dober fight is off, per sources. I’m told Makhachev was flagged for a banned substance. …
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 15, 2016
Dober vs. Makhachev was scheduled to open the Fox prelims card. More likely than not the bout’s removal from the event will mean that a fight from the Fight Pass Prelims will get bumped up and the start time for the event will get pushed back 30 minutes. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow as we’ll have more details on the situation coming shortly.