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What’s the story?
On Wednesday, the Nevada Athletic Commission issued a six month suspension to Sean O’Malley for a potential United States Anti-Doping violation that the UFC fighter announced himself back in late September.
In case you didn't know...
On September 30th, the popular bantamweight announced on his Instagram feed that he was under investigation for a possible violation of the USADA program.
O’ Malley was set to fight Jose Quiñonez at UFC 229 in Las Vegas but was unable to do so due to failing the USADA drug test. The bantamweight fighter penned that, “I have no intention and am fully confident that the results of this case will show that.”
O’Malley also writes his reasoning on coming forward with the news himself, “Even though under the new policy, my case would not be public right now, I feel it’s important to be upfront and honest with my fans,” O’Malley wrote. … “We’ve sent remaining samples from the bottle I took to the USADA lab and [sic] as well as a full-sized bottle. I’m told the testing of these supplements can take as long as 30 days.”
O’Malley then told ESPN the reason he tested positive was due to a low dose of ostarine, a performance-enhancing drug. The UFC fighter believes that the banned substance entered his system through a tainted supplement.
The heart of the matter
On Wednesday, the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to give the UFC fighter a reduced retroactive suspension of six months for a potential United States Anti-Doping violation. It was agreed upon that O’Malley “[took] responsibility for the adverse analytical findings.”
MMA fighting reports that O’Malley could see a return to the octagon after March 6, 2019; however, he could still face a suspension of two years from USADA.
O’Malley was also ordered to pay $472.42 in legal fees.
What’s next?
The 24-year old currently has a professional record of 10 wins and 0 losses. O’Malley earned a UFC contract under Dana White’s Tuesday Contender’s Series back in July 2017 after knocking out Alfred Khashakyan.
There’s no telling what the future holds for O’Malley, but it’s possible that the UFC may try to rebook his bout against Jose Quinonez for a future event once his suspension is done.
