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Prazeres will not be eligible to return to UFC competition until 2021.
If you’re wondering why we haven’t seen Michel Prazeres in a UFC fight over the last 11 months, we not only have our answer, we also know he won’t be back inside the Octagon until at least 2021.
A press release from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) revealed that the Brazilian welterweight tested positive for the banned substance boldenone last March, and he’s since been handed a two-year suspension.
Prazeres, 38, tested positive for exogenous boldenone and its metabolite 5?-androst-1-en-17?-ol-3-one as the result of two out-of-competition urine samples he provided on March 9, 2019. Confirmation of the positive test was achieved through additional analysis using the sensitive isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) method, which reported laboratory results consistent with the exogenous origin of boldenone. Boldenone is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.
The ban is backdated to the day his positive samples were collected, so he is ineligible to return to competition until March 9th, 2021.
Prazeres (26-3) has been with the UFC since 2013, when he debuted against Paulo Thiago in a decision loss. After a defeat to Kevin Lee in 2015, Prazeres went on an eight-fight winning streak that included stoppages of Josh Burkman and Mads Burnell, as well as decisions over Gilbert Burns and Desmond Green.
Michel’s repeated issues with making weight — three failures in a four-fight span — led to his return to welterweight in 2018. In his last outing, he suffered an upset loss to newcomer Ismail Naurdiev at UFC Prague. Barring his release from the UFC or something dramatic happening soon, it’ll be awhile before Prazeres can compete again, at which point he’ll be almost 40.