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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title challenger Ovince Saint Preux is eligible to return to action after accepting a three-month suspension for a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation dating back to November.
UFC authorities released an official announcement on Friday.
Saint Preux, 36, popped for ostarine and di-hydroxy-LGD-4033, a metabolite of LGD-4033, during an out-of-competition drug test administered on Nov. 1. Both substances are prohibited of use at any time under the USADA rule book.
Luckily, USADA was able to determine that the banned substances stemmed from a contaminated supplement provided to them by OSP. Neither substance was listed with the ingredients so the UFC veteran was unaware of what he was consuming.
“USADA determined that Saint Preux’s exposure to these substances began on October 25, 2019, prior to the current UFC Anti-Doping Policy being announced,” read the statement. “Although Saint Preux was not using a Certified Supplement, he received a reduction to his period of ineligibility because he was able to prove that his positive test was caused by contaminated products and the very low levels detected in the products would not have enhanced his performance.”
Considering the banned substances entered Saint Preux’s body back on Oct. 25, the veteran was eligible to return from his three-month suspension on Jan. 25. While OSP’s previously scheduled fight with Ryan Spann at UFC 247 was cancelled in light of this USADA violation maybe the bout can be re-booked for a later event.