UFC veteran Michel Prazeres has received a two-year ban from USADA, and won’t be cleared to return to the Octagon until 2021 after providing positive urine samples in a drugs test.
The welterweight hasn’t featured in the UFC since his decision defeat to Ismail Naurdiev back in February 2019.
And it’s now been revealed that it’s due to a positive drugs test he provided shortly after the bout.
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have announced that Prazeres tested positive for banned substance boldenone in March.
And the 38-year-old has subsequently been handed a two-year suspension.
Violation
USADA released the following statement on their website:
“USADA announced today that Michel Prazeres of Belém, Brazil, has accepted a two-year sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for a prohibited substance.”
“Prazeres, 38, tested positive for exogenous boldenone and its metabolite 5β-androst-1-en-17β-ol-3-one as the result of two out-of-competition urine samples he provided on March 9, 2019. Confirmation of the positive test was achieved through additional analysis using the sensitive isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) method, which reported laboratory results consistent with the exogenous origin of boldenone. Boldenone is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.”
“Prazeres’ two-year period of ineligibility began on March 9, 2019, the date his positive samples were collected.”
The ban backdates to the day Prazeres provided the positive samples, meaning he’ll eligible again on March 9th 2021.
Weight Problems
The Brazilian has been with the UFC since 2013, but has experienced multiple problems over that period.
Despite a respectable record in the UFC (10-3) Prazeres has failed to make weight on three separate occasions, and his loss to newcomer Nuardiev caused an upset.
Prazeres will be almost 40 once he serves his suspension, and with a two-year hiatus from the sport looming, could this be the end of his tenure in the UFC?
(Featured image source: Instagram/ Michel Prazeres)