Almost exactly 24 hours ago, Mohammed Usman vs. Valter Walker was scratched off the UFC Rio card due to an injury to Usman. Since then, there’s been an update from Laerte Viana, who originally broke the news. Per the latest report, Usman did not withdraw due to an injury. Instead, he was pulled from the event falling the results of a September drug test, which revealed elevated testosterone.
Usman — brother of former UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman — never exactly passed the “smell test,” so reactions online are fairly nonplussed. “The Motor” has built up a 4-2 record in his six UFC appearances, but most of those bouts were slow-paced and went to the judges’ scorecards. Safe to say, the most upset party in the whole affair is Walker, who has been publicly lambasting Usman for his last-second pullout.
After Usman’s withdrawal, Walker was taken off the UFC Rio card entirely.
This is the second win for Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) this week, as Conor McGregor was suspended just days ago for multiple “whereabouts failures.” Since the company has taken over where USADA left off, there have been fewer drug suspensions. The public perception is that juicing is back on the menu, so maybe these couple successes can help bolster public confidence.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Rio fight card on fight night, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card matchups scheduled for 4 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET.
