UFC's Junior Dos Santos after potential doping violation: 'Truth will prevail ... I would never cheat'

After being pulled from his heavyweight showdown against Francis Ngannou at UFC 215 due to a potential doping violation, former champion Junior Dos Santos overnight said “truth will prevail.”

Dos Santos (18-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) was pulled from his fight next month against Ngannou (10-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) after an out-of-competition test administered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the UFC’s official anti-doping program administrator, turned up positive for Hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic.

“JDS” posted a message on his social media accounts, including Instagram, telling his fans he wouldn’t cheat and thanking them for their support.

“I’m not here to give an explanation,” Dos Santos said in his video post. “Soon, everything will be clear to all of you and no doubt – truth will prevail. I’m 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. And I would never cheat. It goes against everything I stand for. I play a fair game. We will get to the bottom of this, figure out what happened, learn from it and move on. And 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’m here.”

Oi pessoal Eu não estou aqui para dar explicações, logo tudo será esclarecido para todos vocês e sem duvidas que a verdade prevalecerá. Eu estou aqui em respeito a todos vocês. Eu só quero que saibam que essa situação tem sido bastante difícil para mim, meu time e minha família. Eu nunca trapacearia, isso vai contra tudo o que acredito e apoio. Nós estamos investigando isso a fundo e logo descobriremos o que aconteceu, aprenderemos com isso e seguiremos em frente. Mas eu espero que em um futuro próximo, Francis Ngannou e eu possamos nos enfrentar e dar a vocês, a luta que estavam esperando ver. Por agora, muito obrigado por todo seu apoio, isso significa muito para mim e é por isso que estou aqui. Boa noite.

A post shared by Junior Cigano Dos Santos (@junior_cigano) on Aug 19, 2017 at 11:20pm PDT

Dos Santos’ heavyweight fight against Ngannou was expected to have a lot to say about the next potential challenger for champion Stipe Miocic. Dos Santos challenged the champ for the belt in March, but lost by first-round TKO in less than half a round. So a win over Ngannou might not have gotten him back in a title fight that quickly, especially after alternating wins and losses for what would then be his past nine fights, but it would disrupt Ngannou’s plans.

Ngannou, though, is about the hottest thing going in the UFC’s heavyweight title picture. He has nine straight wins, including his first five in the UFC. All 10 of his career wins are by stopppage. His most recent two wins against arguably his toughests tests yet in Anthony Hamilton and former champ Andrei Arlovski were first-round bonus winners, and he has three straight wins in less than two minutes of work. So a win over a former champ might have gotten him a coveted shot at the title.

The UFC’s original statement on Dos Santos’ positive test said a new opponent would be sought for Ngannou, but nothing has been announced yet. Ngannou on Saturday to call for a fight with Alistair Overeem at UFC 215.

For more on UFC 215, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.