MMA Fighting is reporting that the reason that Dawson was pulled from the card was due to a potential USADA violation. Dawson is expected to appear in front of the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) on January 22 to address the potential USADA violation.
The NAC rules state that no details of the case can be disclosed before the hearing, plus no comment has been issued by USADA on Dawson at this time. This isn’t the first time that Dawson has been caught in the USADA crosshairs, as the fighter previously battled the drug testing organization over a long term metabolite found in previous drug tests.
That first issue with USADA lead to Dawson being released by the UFC before the fighter even made his promotional debut. Dawson challenged USADA on the two year suspension he was awarded and the fighter won the case as USADA dropped the suspension.
UFC 246 takes place on Saturday, January 18 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
