Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Former two-division WSOF champ David Branch no longer fights for the UFC.
David Branch has not had a good week. After accepting a two-year suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency following a positive drug test, his home promotion has released him from his contract.
MMA journalist Mike Russell was the first to announce the news on Twitter.
Branch (22-6) has had two tenures in the UFC, going 4-5 overall and 2-3 in this last stretch. He came over from World Series of Fighting (now called PFL) where he was a champion at both middleweight and light heavyweight. He did pick up a nice TKO win over 205-pound title challenger Thiago Santos, but was stopped in his last two bouts in the promotion. He had been scheduled to fight Andrew Sanchez at UFC Vancouver last weekend, but was pulled from the bout late.
After failing an out-of-competition test for Ipamorelin, a growth hormone, Branch is not eligible to fight again until July of 2021. Of course, if he goes overseas there’s the likelihood that his suspension will not be honored due to the lack of commission oversight. But if he wants to fight in North America again, he’ll likely have to wait until he’s 40 years old.