Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos will return after serving a one-year suspension by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Zaleski dos Santos (23-7 MMA, 9-3 UFC) faces Abubakar Nurmagomedov (17-3-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at a UFC Fight Night event on June 3 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
A person with knowledge of the booking informed MMA Junkie of the matchup but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Canal Encarada was first to report the news.
On April 8, 2022, Zaleski dos Santos was suspended by USADA after failing an out-of-competition drug test for ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that is prohibited at all times.
Zaleski dos Santos’ team claimed the failure was the result of a tainted supplement, but the pharmacy that makes the supplements denied any compounding of ostarine despite the positive result. Because of this, Zaleski dos Santos’ suspension with USADA wasn’t lowered.
The failed drug test forced Zaleski dos Santos to withdraw from a scheduled bout against Mounir Lazzez at UFC on ESPN 34. The Brazilian hasn’t competed since defeating Benoit Saint-Denis in October 2021 at UFC 267.
Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov is coming off back-to-back wins. After dropping his UFC debut to David Zawada, the 33-year-old rebounded with unanimous decision wins over Jared Gooden and most recently Gadzhi Omargadzhiev last October at UFC 280.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for June 3 includes:
- Jack Hermansson vs. Brendan Allen
- Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Miesha Tate
- Amir Albazi vs. Kai Kara-France
- Tim Elliott vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
- Jinh Yu Frey vs. Elise Reed
- David Onama vs. TBA
- Alex Caceres vs. Daniel Pineda
- Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Luan Lacerda
- John Castaneda vs. Mateus Mendonca
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
