Heavyweight Azunna Anyanwu Accepts 1-Year USADA Suspension for Banned Diuretic

Azunna Anyanwu will be on the shelf until at least October.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight has accepted a one-year suspension handed down by the UFC’s anti-doping partner, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a failed drug test. The blown test stems from an out-of-competition sample collected on Oct. 18 for last year.

In a press release issued Friday, USADA revealed that Anyanwu had tested positive for furosemide, a loop diuretic that is often used as a masking agent. The suspension is retroactive to Oct. 18 collection date last year, meaning that “Zu the 8th Wonder” will be eligible to get back into the Octagon on Oct. 18 of this year.

“USADA announced today that UFC athlete, Azunna Anyanwu, of Bensalem, Pa., has tested positive for a prohibited substance and accepted the standard one-year sanction for his anti-doping policy violation,” read the press release. “Anyanwu, 36, tested positive for furosemide following an out-of-competition urine test conducted on October 18, 2017. Furosemide is a Specified Substance in the class of Diuretics and Masking Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.”

A former heavyweight champion under the Cage Fury Fighting Championships banner in the northeast, Anyanwu punched his ticket to the Octagon by knocking out Greg Rebello at the inaugural edition of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series last July. In his formal UFC debut, Anyanwu dropped a close split decision to Justin Ledet at UFC Fight Night 116 in Pittsburgh, snapping his five-fight winning streak.