UFC Welterweight Suspended Two Years By USADA

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight contender, Michel Prazeres, has been hit with a two-year suspension from mixed martial arts (MMA) after failing two out-of-competition drug tests from United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

From the official USADA statement:

Prazeres, 38, tested positive for exogenous boldenone and its metabolite 5β-androst-1-en-17β-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 samples were collected a couple of weeks after Michel lost to Ismail Naurdiev at UFC Fight Night 145 in Prague, Czech Republic. The loss snapped his eight-fight win streak going back all the way to 2015.

Since the suspension is retroactive, Michel will be eligible to return in March of 2021. That said, his climb up the 170-pound division will be a whole lot tougher once he gets back into the swing of things.

Assuming UFC doesn’t let him go altogether.