UFC Heavyweight Junior Dos Santos was cleared by the USADA last day after their investigation into the tainted supplements ended. Dos Santos was flagged by the organisation back in late August which in turn forced him out of the fight against Francis Ngannou.
After the incident, Dos Santos went on to proclaim his innocence and USADA eventually kick-started an investigation on the issue. Last day, the USADA officials revealed that Dos Santos and two other fighters were victims of compounding pharmacies in Brazil which provided tainted supplements to the fighters.
The decision reduced the suspension of Dos Santos to six months which interestingly is over now.
“I’m relieved that this nightmare is finally over and that we were able to determine what happened and where the prohibited substance found in my sample came from. Like I’ve always said, I’m a clean athlete. The most important thing now is that I can go back to earning my livelihood. I want to get back inside the octagon as quickly as possible. Back to business.” Santos noted in an official statement.
The long process
The long process of investigation, related formalities and UFC’s heavyweight matchmaking kept Dos Santos out of the octagon for nearly a year and his lawyer Ana Claudia Guedes was vocal about the same.
“The process has been extremely frustrating for Junior, who has always supported anti-doping measures, always supported USADA, and always advocated for a clean sport. Junior was pulled from his planned October bout against Francis Ngannou and has not fought since his May 2017 title challenge against champion Stipe Miocic. While the reduced sanction of six months is less than the one year provided for a first violation of the UFC anti-doping policy, the practical reality of such a long investigation coupled with the difficulty of UFC heavyweight matchmaking means Junior will go nearly a year without a fight. It’s unfortunate, it has been very rough on Junior.” She said. (Quotes courtesy of MMA Nytt)
Dos Santos is currently 18-5 in his career and last fought against Stipe Miocic against whom he lost.
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