UFC News: India's first UFC fighter receives a 2-year USADA suspension over steroid use

What's the story?

India's first ever UFC featherweight contender, Bharat Kandare, has been suspended for two years after he tested positive for performance-enhancing substances during an out-of-competition drug test conducted by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Kandare (5-3 in MMA and 0-1 in the UFC) is from Maharashtra, India, and was the first to represent the nation in the UFC, over a year ago.

In case you didn't know...

Bharat Kandare is an Indian martial artist who made his debut with the UFC on November 25th, 2017. He has competed for MMA promotional avenues such as the WAFC, SFL, Brave Combat Federation, and of course, the UFC. Kandare maintained a respectable five-fight win streak before setting foot into the UFC, with notable victories over Narender Grewal, Sami Amin, and Pierre Daguzan.

UFC Fight Night 122 - Bisping vs. Gastelum, featured a featherweight bout between Bharat Kandare and Japan's Yadong Song. Just a little over the four-minute mark, Song landed a perfectly timed overhand right that successfully acted as a bait for the guillotine choke that followed, which forced the Indian to submit. Kandare has been inactive since this loss against Yadong Song, in the month of November, last year.

The heart of the matter

On July 23rd, 2018, an out-of-competition drug test conducted by USADA, ultimately proved to be detrimental to the success of Kandare, in the UFC. After testing positive for a steroid and a selective estrogen receptor modulator, or SERM, Kandare received a 2-year suspension by the anti-doping agency, effective from the date of November 2nd, 2018. Aaron Bronsteter from TSN Sports was the first to report on the incident.

Indian mixed martial artist Bharat Khandare has accepted a two-year suspension after testing positive for exogenous boldenone and tamoxifen per USADA.Khandare is 0-1 in the UFC. pic.twitter.com/MCrWHPcNwE

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) December 17, 2018

USADA CEO, Travis Tygart, released a statement to provide closure to the persons questioning the purpose of the agency. During his addressing, he said:

“The goal of the UFC Anti-Doping Program is to deter the use of performance-enhancing drugs and this necessarily means we will identify and hold accountable those who use performance-enhancing substances to gain an advantage in the Octagon.”

“As the Program continues to grow and innovate, we will do our best to continue to protect clean athletes so that athletes can win in the Octagon without cheating and endangering their health and safety and that of their competitors.”

What's next?

The return of Bharat Kandare is forecasted to be on November 2nd, 2020, exactly two years following his suspension that began nearly a month ago. The USADA seems to be stringent in its practices to eliminate wrongdoers of the sport by conducting a series of in and out-of-competition drug test rallies.

Do you think mixed martial arts requires an authoritative power such as the USADA to govern and protect the sanctity of the sport? Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!