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Kelvin Gastelum pulled from fight with Anderson Silva after testing positive for marijuana

Published Apr. 6, 2017 7:14 p.m. ET

Damon Martin

Kelvin Gastelum will no longer face Anderson Silva at UFC 212 in Brazil after he was flagged for a potential doping violation by USADA stemming from his most recent bout against Vitor Belfort.

UFC officials announced on Thursday that Gastelum was flagged for Carboxy-Tetrahydrocannabinol (Carboxy-THC) which is a metabolite of marijuana and/or hashish above the 180 ng/mL allowance by the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) standard.

The in-competition sample was collected on the night of Gastelum's fight on March 11 in Brazil by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), who enforces the UFC's anti-doping policy. Marijuana is only banned above the 180 ng/ML threshold in-competition for athletes in the UFC.

USADA will handle the adjudication process with Gastelum as it relates to the UFC's anti-doping policy but the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) will also be informed about the violation because they were the governing body overseeing the fight card in March.

Gastelum has been placed on a provisional suspension as a result of the positive drug test and he will be afforded a full adjudication process in regards to his potential anti-doping policy violation.

Unfortunately because of the close proximity of Gastelum's next fight on June 3 in Brazil against Anderson Silva, the UFC has pulled him from the card.

The UFC will now begin the search for a new opponent to face Silva at UFC 212 in Brazil.

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