Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has been granted a suspension reduction by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. USADA announced the news in a press release Thursday.
According to the release, Werdum’s two-year ineligibility period of initiated on May 22, 2018. However, the ineligibility was “tolled” because of Werdum’s subsequent retirement. Werdum’s reduced suspension will allow him to return to competition on April 1, 2020 as a result of “substantial assistance.”
The official release stated:
“Werdum, 42, received a reduction from the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility due to substantial assistance. Under the applicable rules, an athlete facing a period of ineligibility who provides information that leads to the discovery of another violation or which results in a criminal or disciplinary body discovering an offense, is eligible for a sanction reduction.”
In April 2018, Werdum (23-8-1 MMA, 11-5 UFC) was flagged for trenbolone and epitrenbolone metabolite stemming from an out-of-competition urine test. “Trenbolone is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and the UFC Prohibited List,” the USADA release stated.
At the time of his positive urine test, Werdum, a former UFC heavyweight champion, was preparing to headline UFC Fight Night 136 against Aleksei Oleinik. The Brazilian heavyweight has won two out of his past three fights, though his most recent fight was a knockout loss to Alexander Volkov in March 2018 at UFC Fight Night 127.
