USADA announces sanctions for four UFC fighters for Ostarine

USADA announced that four UFC athletes have accepted six-month sanctions for violating the UFC Anti-Doping Policy for trace amounts of ostarine “consistent with supplement contamination.”

Via USADA release:

USADA has resolved the following cases, after conducting a thorough investigation and finding no evidence of intentional use, consistent with other supplement contamination cases:

• Augusto Mendes, 36, of Glendale, Ariz., tested positive for ostarine following an out-of-competition test conducted on March 7, 2018. He accepted a six-month period of ineligibility that began on March 20, 2018, the date he was provisionally suspended from competition.
• Marvin Vettori, 25, of Mezzocorona, Italy, tested positive for ostarine following an out-of-competition test conducted on August 24, 2018. He accepted a six-month period of ineligibility that began on August 24, 2018, the date he was provisionally suspended from competition.
• Sean O’Malley, 24, of Phoenix, Ariz., tested positive for ostarine following out-of-competition tests conducted on September 5, 2018 and December 8, 2018. His two positives were treated as a single, first violation because the amount of ostarine in both samples is consistent with ingestion prior to September 5, 2018. He accepted a six-month period of ineligibility that began on September 19, 2018, the date he was provisionally suspended from competition.
• Nicco Montano, 30, of Albuquerque, N.M., tested positive for ostarine following an out-of-competition test conducted on October 25, 2018. She accepted a six-month period of ineligibility that began on November 15, 2018, the date she was provisionally suspended from competition.

Payout Perspective:

The blanket six-month sanction for these four fighters may bring into question of the use of ostraine and its contamination with other supplements.  It also brings back the controversial two year sanction for Tom Lawlor.  The former UFC fighter, now mostly pro wrestler had his career in the promotion come to an end because they could not pinpoint the ostarine that showed up on a failed USADA test.  These light sentences was blasted by Lawlor on social media.