Former UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano has released a statement regarding her six-month USADA suspension.
Nicco Montano has released a statement after news broke earlier this week that the former UFC flyweight champion had been handed a six-month suspension by USADA.
Montano (4-2) tested positive for ostarine in an out-of-competition sample that was taken in October 2018. The 30-year-old hasn’t fought since winning the inaugural women’s flyweight title against Roxanne Modafferi in December 2017.
She released the following statement on her Instagram account Wednesday.
“First and foremost, I would like to thank my friends, family, and all of my fans for their continued support during this difficult period in my life,” Montano’s statement read. “As you all know, USADA was unable to locate the source of my contamination. I will continue to remain diligent in my responsibilities to USADA and the UFC. I would like to acknowledge Donna Marcolini and Jeff Novitzky with the UFC for their assistance in this process.
“This suspension has further inspired me to work even harder of achieving my goals in the UFC. I hope to make my return this summer.”
As the suspension was in effect since November 15th of last year, Montano will be eligible to return to the Octagon on May 15th of this year.
Montano was among four fighters — the others being Sean O’Malley, Augusto Mendes, and Marvin Vettori — to receive reduced suspensions from USADA after it was ruled that the ostarine found in their system was due to ingesting contaminated supplements.