Diego Sanchez Gets 3 Month Sanction From USADA
Diego Sanchez was on the receiving end of a failed USADA drug test. As it turns out though, he is just another victim of a tainted supplement.
Sanchez is the last member of the first season of TUF still in the UFC. He is a bit eccentric to say the least. However, he has consistently been able to score important victories. Even late into his career, he has been able to score some very impressive wins.
Sanchez was looking to do the same thing against Michael Pereira, at UFC on ESPN+ 25 in February. However, he was notified by USADA of a potential doping violation, stemming from an out of competition test in October. Of course, due to the new protocols in place, the news of this violation was not made public.
According to reports, USADA made the announcement that Sanchez would be facing a retroactive 3-month suspension. It was determined that he had taken a tainted supplement, which contained ostarine, but did not have it listed on the label. As a result, he was given this minor sanction, which ultimately does not affect his return to the Octagon.
Another part of the new USADA changes, which was evident in the Sanchez case, is the idea that they look at thresholds. Although ostarine is not among the list of eight substances with established thresholds, USADA was still able to determine that the low amounts Diego tested for, was not in an intentional way. That really helped his case for being able to fight in February 15th.
All in all, USADA still has a long way to go before it is a great or even good way to test fighters. Nevertheless, this situation with Diego Sanchez demonstrates that they know that to be true as well.
