Dave Herman has been suspended six months by the UFC for failing his UFC 153 drug test due to marijuana metabolites showing up in his system.
According Marc Ratner, the UFC’s VP of regulatory affairs, not only will Herman serve a six-month suspension, he will also have to participate in an approved drug-rehabilitation program and pass a drug test upon the completion of the suspension before getting clearance from the promotion to fight again. The UFC has yet to determine which drug rehab center Herman will visit.
MMAJunkie.com first reported the news on Thursday.
Herman (21-5) lost his third fight in a row at UFC 153, this time via submission to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
This marks second positive drug test for Herman while a member of the UFC. He was pulled from his UFC 136 fight against Mike Russow in 2011 after traces of marijuana came up in the pre-fight drug test administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Earlier this week, Ratner suspended Stephan Bonnar for a year after the light heavyweight tested positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone at UFC 153, which was also Bonnar’s second time testing positive for steroids during his UFC run.
“We feel very strongly that there’s a big difference between PED’s [performance-enhancing drugs] and marijuana,” Ratner told MMAFighting.com earlier this week. “We think the commissions do a good job with PEDs, but we think with marijuana there should be some form of rehab involved, going through that kind of process and learning about it.
“Other sports have a difference between PEDs and recreational drugs.”
Earlier this year, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Nick Diaz for a year after he tested positive for marijuana metabolites a second time.
Since there isn’t an official Brazilian athletic commission, the UFC served as the governing body at UFC 153. Ratner is the former executive director of the NSAC.