Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
One of BJJ’s hottest stars has failed a drug test.
BJJ is one of the least regulated combat sports. Only one major organisation regularly tests and the IBJJF announce their tests ahead of time. Much to the surprise of the BJJ community, it has been announced that one of the sports biggest stars, Kaynan Duarte has been flagged for a drug test violation.
According to USADA, Duarte tested positive for Ostarine, which is a SARM that has been the cause for many UFC athletes’ drug test failures in the past. USADA have stated that Duarte’s test results were “consistent with exposure to ostarine via cross-contamination.”
Duarte is one of the most popular names in BJJ and while he failed a flagged in his drug test in June, he competed and won gold at ADCC in September. In addition to his ADCC triumph, Duarte will retain his KASAI and Spyder title as neither of the promotions are USADA signatories.
Doping in BJJ is a grey area. As there isn’t much money in BJJ, promotions are limited in the amount of money they can dedicate to testing. At the highest levels of the sport, there has been a lot of discourse surrounding the prevalence of PED use and it seems like it will continue to be a hot topic as the sport continues to grow.