Istela Nunes Suspended for 2 Years After Testing Positive for Stanozolol

Istela Nunes has accepted a two year sanction from USADA after a positive test for multiple stanozolol metabolites. pic.twitter.com/6SqVI9MAXd

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 25, 2019

Prospective Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight Istela Nunes has been suspended before she ever set foot in the cage.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced on Friday that Nunes tested positive for stanozolol metabolites, a steroid, and has been handed down a two-year ban following those test results. The substance is banned both in and out of competition, and she will be eligible to compete once again in July 2021, dating back to her positive test in July 2019.

Nunes was slated to make her UFC debut at UFC Mexico City in September against Angela Hill, but she was pulled from the event after she failed a drug test. She was signed after a three-fight appearance with One Championship, where she bookended a submission loss to Angela Lee with decision victories over Mei Yamaguchi and Gina Iniong.

The Brazilian is one of a growing number of fighters that have been suspended before making their promotional debuts, including Vince Murdock, Giacomo Lemos and Melissa Gatto.

USADA's statement regarding Nunes is as follows:

USADA announced today that Istela Iane Nunes Souza, of São Paulo, Brazil, has accepted a two-year sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for a prohibited substance.

Nunes Souza, 27, tested positive for multiple stanozolol metabolites, 16β-hydroxystanozolol and 3′-hydroxystanozolol as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample she provided on July 22, 2019. Stanozolol is a non-Specified Substance 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 Prohibited List.

Nunes Souza’s two-year period of ineligibility, the standard sanction for a non-Specified Substance under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, began on July 22, 2019, the date her positive sample was collected.