NSAC Suspends Walt Harris, Daniel Rodriguez for Failed Drug Tests

Walt Harris’ comeback was derailed before it could get started.

“The Big Ticket” on Tuesday received a one-year suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission after testing positive for the anabolic agent drostanolone in an out-of-competition sample submitted on June 24. Harris will be eligible to return on June 24, 2024. He was also ordered to pay $392.60 in legal fees. Since the test occurred out-of-competition, he was not fined a percentage of his purse.

Harris was supposed to face Josh Parisian at UFC on ESPN 49 in his first fight since June 2021, but the bout was canceled when the positive test came to light.

“I believe this came from a supplement that I’ve trusted my entire career, but at the end of the day it was never USADA approved,” Harris wrote in a statement on Instagram this past July. “I’m a complete idiot for not checking prior, but I’m definitely not a cheater.”

Meanwhile, UFC welterweight Daniel Rodriguez was handed a six-month suspension due to a positive test for ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM), in an out-of-competition sample. Rodriguez also had to pay $157.04 in legal fees and will be eligible to return on Jan. 28, 2024. As with Harris, since the test occurred out-of-competition, Rodriguez was not fined a percentage of his purse.

Rodriguez was slated to meet Santiago Ponzinibbio at Noche UFC on Sept. 16 before the failed test scrapped the bout.

“First and foremost, I want to clarify I did not intentionally use ostarine, nor have I ever knowingly used any prohibited substance in my career,” Rodriguez wrote in a statement on social media this past August. “I rarely take any form of supplements and have always strived to care for my body in the most natural ways. From my first fight until today I have had a negative test every single time not one slip up not one positive test until today.

“Since I was notified, I became educated on ostarine, as well as others who have tested positive for the substance. ostarine, specifically, is commonly found as a low-level contaminant in certain dietary supplements. These levels provide absolutely no performance-enhancing benefit. I strongly believe that a supplement contaminant is the reason for my low-level positive, and am actively working with my manager, USADA, and the UFC on reviewing and testing the supplements I took prior to my test.”

Rodriguez last appeared at UFC on ABC 4 on May 13, when he suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Ian Garry for his second consecutive defeat.