The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) on Monday issued a temporary suspension to UFC fighter Ashlee Evans-Smith following Evans-Smith’s failed drug test at UFC 181.
Evans-Smith tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, according to commission representatives. A prescription diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide is known to be used to treat high blood pressure and fluid prevention, among other uses.
Evans-Smith tested positive for the diuretic in a post-fight drug test at UFC 181 following her first-round submission loss to Raquel Pennington. The fight marked Evans-Smith’s UFC debut, which she accepted on short notice due to a late dropout by Pennington’s original opponent, Holly Holm.
A 27-year-old women’s bantamweight fighting out of California, Evans-Smith is expected to face a formal hearing for the failed test at a commission meeting at a later date.
Evans-Smith’s manager, Mike McLeish, recently told MMAFighting.com that all of the fighter’s supplements are “protein or flower- and plant-based,” and that she was as-of-yet unsure whether she will appeal the failed test.
McLeish also questioned the NAC’s motives for choosing to discipline Evans-Smith while UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones received no punishment for his failed out-of-competition drug test for cocaine metabolites.
“It’s not performance-enhancing or anything,” McLeish said of Evans-Smith’s use. “I don’t understand why they’re talking about her doing diuretics, but Jon Jones did cocaine and nothing is happening to him. Cocaine is OK, because it’s out of competition? He was in training camp.”