Zubaira Tukhugov removed from UFC Fight Night 102 for potential USADA violation UFC officials announced Monday that featherweight Zubaira Tukhugov has been flagged for a potential anti-doping violation and removed from next month’s UFC Fight Night 102 card. USADA informed Tukhugov of a potential violation from an out-of-competition test on September 7th and October 29th. As a result, the UFC is currently looking for a replacement opponent to face Brazilian featherweight Tiago Trator. The UFC released the following statement: “USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC anti-doping policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC anti-doping policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.” Trator (20-5-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) hasn’t fought since a September 2015 win over Clay Collard at UFC 191. Meanwhile, Tukhugov (18-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) saw a nine-fight winning streak end at May’s UFC 198, where he suffered a split-decision loss to Renato Carneiro. UFC Fight Night Albany takes place December 9th at Times Union Center. Here’s an updated look at the card… Derrick Lewis vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov Anthony Hamilton vs. Francis Ngannou Patrick Cummins vs. Gian Villante Raphael Assuncao vs. Aljamain Sterling Corey Anderson vs. Sean O’Connell Juliana Lima vs. Tatiana Suarez Randy Brown vs. Brian Camozzi Oluwale Bamgbose vs. Joseph Gigliotti Andrew Sanchez vs. Trevor Smith Tiago Trator vs. opponent TBA Marc Diakiese vs. Frankie Perez Keith Berish vs. Ryan Janes MMA Media Chronicles: UFC 205 recap & preview UFC’s doubleheader Here’s my take on this past weekend’s UFC 205 event, and I give a quick look ahead to the UFC doubleheader this Saturday.
