Ovince St. Preux Receives 3-Month Suspension for Tainted Supplements

Ovince Saint Preux Accepts Sanction for Violation of UFC Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/w9qi740bmG

— USADA | UFC Anti-Doping Program (@USADA_UFC) January 31, 2020

Ovince St. Preux is the second prominent fighter on Friday to test positive for banned supplements and have his suspension reduced to three months, joining Diego Sanchez.

According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Friday, former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title challenger St. Preux has been suspended for three months dating back to a positive test for ostarine on Nov. 1. The Tennessee native was flagged for ostarine and LGD-4033 as well as two additional prohibited compounds, and all four appeared in his positive test.

Following to his cooperation and the investigation that followed, St. Preux was cleared of wrongdoing and received a reduction in his sentence. The regulations under USADA have recently changed, and now permit an infinitesimal amount of these substances as long as they do not act in a performance-enhancing capacity. As the USADA regulations have changed allowing for miniscule levels of these substances provided they do not enhance an athlete's performance, St. Preux was not subject to harsher penalties.

St. Preux tested positive on Nov. 1 for these substances in an out-of-competition drug test. By providing specific, sealed containers of the supplements he was using, the agency was able to determine that they contained these banned supplements despite not being listed on the packaging. He joins several recent fighters including Sanchez and Sean O'Malley, where supplements they took contained these similar banned substances.

As the agency determined that St. Preux's exposure to the substances dated back to October, his three-month suspension has already concluded. Although briefly set to face Ryan Spann at UFC 247, that bout fell off the card, and potentially may have been scrapped due to this violation. "OSP" does not currently have a fight lined up, although he is eligible to compete once again.

USADA's statement regarding St. Preux is as follows:

"USADA announced today that Ovince Saint Preux, of Knoxville, Tenn., has accepted a three-month sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for prohibited substances.

"Saint Preux, 36, tested positive for ostarine and di-hydroxy-LGD-4033, a metabolite of LGD-4033, as well GW1516 sulfone and GW1516 sulfoxide, which are metabolites of GW1516 (also known as GW-501516), as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on November 1, 2019. Ostarine and LGD-4033 are non-Specified Substances in the class of Anabolic Agents, while GW1516 is a non-Specified Substance in the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators. These substances are prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.

"During an investigation into the circumstances of the positive test, Saint Preux provided sealed containers of products he was using for analysis at the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although no prohibited substances were listed on the supplement labels, the analysis revealed that the products contained ostarine, LGD-4033, and GW1516 for which Saint Preux tested positive.

"On November 25, 2019, revisions to the UFC Anti-Doping Policy were announced. Under the revised UFC Anti-Doping Policy, if a situation arises where an athlete tests positive and is able to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the cause of the positive test was due to a supplement certified by one of the certifiers in the UFC rules, he or she will not be subject to an anti-doping policy violation and will be permitted to compete after follow-up testing and when there is no performance enhancing benefit in question.

"USADA determined that Saint Preux’s exposure to these substances began on October 25, 2019, prior to the current UFC Anti-Doping Policy being announced. Although Saint Preux was not using a Certified Supplement, he received a reduction to his period of ineligibility because he was able to prove that his positive test was caused by contaminated products and the very low levels detected in the products would not have enhanced his performance."