Former UFC Lightweight Alex Gorgees Gets Reduced Suspension After Cooperation

Here's a confusing one. Alex Gorgees took a short notice fight against Damir Ismagulov. Lost the fight.

Disclosed he had been using prohibited substances, providing evidence of such use after failing both in and out of competition tests.

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Was released & now suspended 16 months pic.twitter.com/OmI3PBrlpL

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) May 31, 2019

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Alex Gorgees has had his suspension reduced by eight months after cooperating with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

According to USADA on Friday, Gorgees will have his two-year suspension reduced to 16 months after testing positive for multiple banned substances following his fight at UFC Fight Night 142 in December. In his post-fight drug test, he tested positive for substances including a metabolite of anabolic steroid drostanolone. Due to his test results, he was released by the promotion. His suspension began effective December 2, and it will end around June 2, 2020.

Gorgees made his UFC debut by replacing Joe Duffy against Damir Ismagulov at UFC Fight Night 142, where he lost by decision. The defeat was the first in his career, and it marked only the second time the Australian fighter had ever reached the scorecards. Gorgees was slated to return against Jalin Turner at UFC 234, but withdrew from the contest due to injury.

Unlike many other UFC fighters who had recently received substantially lesser sentences for positive drug tests, Gorgees' suspension was only reduced by a third of its original length. This comes following Gorgees' immediate admission of guilt and disclosure of the banned substances he took. He cooperated with USADA regarding his case even after he was released by the UFC.

USADA's statement regarding Gorgees is as follows:

USADA announced today that Alex Gorgees, of Sydney, Australia, has accepted a 16-month sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for prohibited substances.

Gorgees, 23, tested positive for a metabolite of drostanolone and a long-term metabolite of dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT), 4-chloro-18-nor-17β-hydroxymethyl,17α-methyl-5α-androst-13-en-3α-ol (M3), as the result of a urine sample provided in-competition on December 2, 2018 at UFC Fight Night in Adelaide, Australia, and he continued to test positive for both metabolites in an out-of-competition sample provided on December 10, 2018. He then tested positive for only the DHCMT metabolite on January 16, 2019.

Drostanolone and DHCMT are non-Specified Substances in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Gorgees immediately came forward with detailed evidence of his use of prohibited substances before entering the UFC Anti-Doping Program and continued to cooperate throughout USADA's investigation related to his use, even after his release from the UFC. As a result, Gorgees received a reduction from the maximum two-year period of ineligibility for a doping offense involving a non-Specified Substance.

Gorgees' 16-month period of ineligibility began on December 2, 2018, the date his first positive sample was collected. Under the rules, any decision concerning competition results is handled by the Commission and the UFC.