UFC women’s flyweight Rachel Ostovich has accepted a retroactive suspension by the USADA anti-doping agency.
Her return to the Octagon will have to wait a little bit longer, as Ostovich’s suspension has been dated to January 3rd, 2020 which means she’ll be eligible to fight again on January 3rd, 2021.
The drug testing agency released a statement via the UFC website on Thursday, regarding Ostovich’s suspension.
Ostovich-Berdon, 29, tested positive for ostarine and GW1516 (also known as GW-501516) metabolites GW1516 sulfone and GW1516 sulfoxide as the result of a urine sample collected out-of-competition on January 3, 2020. Ostarine is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and GW1516 is a non-Specified Substance in the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators. These substances are prohibited at all times under the UFC ADP and UFC Prohibited List.
During an investigation into the circumstances of the positive test, Ostovich-Berdon identified a supplement she had tried which was analyzed at the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although ostarine and GW1516 were not listed on the supplement label, the analysis revealed that the product contained ostarine and GW1516, the substances for which Ostovich-Berdon tested positive. The product label listed another prohibited substance, but Ostovich-Berdon did not realize at the time that it was prohibited. Consistent with other cases with similar circumstances, USADA determined that a small reduction from the default two-year period of ineligibility was justified.
In addition to the circumstantial reduction, Ostovich’s suspension was reportedly further reduced as part of the UFC’s recently created “Full and Complete Cooperation” guideline. That guideline was put in place as part of the UFC’s revision of their anti-doping policy in November of last year, and “may be granted in the event that an athlete demonstrates that they did not intend to enhance their performance and provided full, prompt, and truthful responses and information to all reasonable inquiries and requests for information.”
