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Mitrione cleared to fight Schaub

Matt Mitrione can get off his surfboard and back in the Octagon © Getty Images

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The suspension of heavyweight Matt Mitrione has been lifted and he will face Brendan Schaub on July 27 at UFC on Fox 8 in Seattle, promotion officials announced on Wednesday night.

Mitrione made disparaging remarks about transgender female mixed martial artist Fallon Fox on April 8 and was suspended hours later.

"She's not a he, he's a he," the 34-year-old Mitrione said. "He's chromosomally a man. He had a gender change, not a sex change. He's still a man. He was a man for 31 years, 31 years.

"That's a couple years younger than I am. He's a man. Six years of taking performance de-hancing drugs you think is going to change all that? That's ridiculous.

"That is a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak. And I mean that."

Mitrione's remarks came two days after he improved to 6-2 with a first-round knockout of Phil de Fries in Stockholm, Sweden. The win ended his two-fight skid. "The UFC was appalled by the transphobic comments made by heavyweight Matt Mitrione in an interview on the 'MMA Hour,'" the promotion said on its website after its decision to suspend Mitrione.

"The organisation finds Mr. Mitrione's comments offensive and wholly unacceptable and - as a direct result of this significant breach of the UFC's code of conduct - Mr. Mitrione's UFC contract has been suspended and the incident is being investigated.

"The UFC is a friend and ally of the LGBT community, and expects and requires all 450 of its athletes to treat others with dignity and respect."

Schaub (9-3) ended a two-fight losing streak February 23 at UFC 157 with a unanimous decision over Lavar Johnson, who was released by the promotion in March after failing a postfight drug test.

The promotion also announced that flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will defend his title against John Moraga in the main event.

Johnson (17-2) was slated to face Moraga on July 13, but the champion pulled out of the bout because of a shoulder injury. Moraga, a submission expert, brings a seven-fight win streak into the contest. He has a professional MMA record of 13-1.

Women's bantamweight contenders Miesha Tate and Liz Carmouche are also scheduled to meet on the card. Each fighter is looking to rebound from a loss in her most recent outing.

Carmouche (8-3) was submitted in the first round by champion Ronda Rousey on February 23. Tate (13-4) suffered a third-round TKO to Cat Zingano during a title eliminator on April 13 in Las Vegas.

This article first appeared on ESPN.com

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