Antonio Rogerio Nogueira Pulled from UFC on FOX 26 Card

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been pulled from his planned bout with Jared Cannonier, which had been scheduled for Dec. 16 at UFC on FOX 26 in Winnipeg.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency informed Nogueira of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on Sept. 27, according to a UFC statement.

“Due to the proximity of Nogueira’s upcoming scheduled bout at UFC Fight Night: Lawler vs. Dos Anjos in Winnipeg, Canada on Dec. 16, 2017

, against Jared Cannonier, Nogueira has been removed from the card and the UFC is currently seeking a replacement,” said company officials.

It’s been nearly a year since Nogueira (22-8) last set foot in the Octagon, and now it’s could be quite a bit longer. Nogueira is 1-3 in his last four fights, most recently losing to Ryan Bader in the UFC Fight Night 100 main event in November of 2016.

Nogueira had planned on fighting earlier this year, but had to withdraw from a scheduled bout against Ilir Latifi because of a neck injury.

Cannonier (10-2) has had mixed results since he began fighting for the UFC nearly three years ago. He is 2-3 in the Octagon, coming off of a TKO stoppage of Nick Roehrick in July. He was looking to Nogueira as one of the most high profile fights of his career, but now awaits a new opponent.

This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com