Video: Junior dos Santos releases statement, proclaims innocence after USADA violation

Junior dos Santos was pulled from his scheduled fight against Francis Ngannou, which was set to go down at UFC 215 on September 9, 2017 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada after he was notified of a potential United States Anti Doping (USADA) violation, though his camp blamed potential tainted supplements for the infraction.

Now, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion of the world is speaking out, taking to Instagram to proclaim his innocence to his fans, Francis and the rest of the combat community.

“Hey everyone, I am here at home and I am not here to give an explanation. Soon everything will be clear to all of you and no doubts that truth will prevail. I am here in respect for all of you guys. I just want to say that this situation is very tough, for me, my team and my family. I would never cheat, it goes against everything I stand for, I play the fair game. We will get to the bottom of this and figure out what happened, learn from it and move on. I hope in the near future Francis Ngannou and me can face each other and give you guys the show you were expecting. For now, thank you very much for your support, it means a lot to me and that’s why I am here. Good night.”

This is the first time “Cigano” has ever been at the center of any failed drug tests. As a result of the USADA bust, Ngannou has called for Alistair Overeem to step in and face him in Canada.

UFC 215 will feature a main event bout between UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg, as well as a women’s bantamweight title fight pitting champion Amanda Nunes against surging striker Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event,

For more UFC 215 fight card news click here.