Augusto Mendes won’t be fighting out his last fight on the UFC card next month in New Jersey.
The Brazilian jiu jitsu ace failed an out of competition test on a sample collected on March 7th.
He was supposed to fight Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Atlantic City on April 21, but has been pulled from the bout, per the release. The UFC is seeking a replacement to fight Dvalishvili.
He’s had mixed reviews in the octagon with 2 of his last bouts going to a decision.
Prior to the doping news he said to mmafighting:
“That’s my last fight on my contract, so let’s see what going to happen after that,” Mendes told MMA Fighting ahead of UFC Atlantic City.
“I didn’t pay attention to [Dvalishvili] before, but there’s nothing special there that can make me be worried about him. He’s a tough guy, like anyone else in the division.
“I think he’s a good matchup for me. He’s a good wrestler. He likes to go the ground, and if he goes to the ground, he goes into my world. I’m not scared to go to the ground. He should be scared, not me. But there’s nothing special about him in the striking [game], he’s kinda wide a little bit, and I think it’s a good matchup. Anybody who wants to grapple and stay close to me, it’s good for me, so let’s see. Let’s see what he brings April 21st.”
Tanquinho added:
“I’m not doing MMA for the money. If I was just fighting for the money, I would just stay in jiu-jitsu. I make a lot more money in jiu-jitsu. I’m sure if I just announced that I was doing jiu-jitsu full-time again, I would get a lot of sponsors and a lot more invitations to fight in the tournaments and make more money, but I want to do MMA.”
