UFC Bantamweight Guido Cannetti Accepts 10-Month Sanction for Anti-Doping Violation

UFC bantamweight Guido Cannetti has accepted a 10-month suspension from USADA after testing positive for multiple prohibited substances from a contaminated supplement.

USADA’s statement on the matter is as follows:

Cannetti, 37, tested positive for ostarine, the stanozolol metabolites 16β-hydroxystanozolol and 4β-hydroxystanozolol, as well as hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide, following an out-of-competition test conducted on October 5, 2016. Ostarine and stanozolol are prohibited substances in the class of Anabolic Agents, while hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide are prohibited substances in the class of Diuretics and Masking Agents. These substances are prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

After notifying Cannetti of his positive test, USADA obtained opened and sealed containers of a dietary supplement that Cannetti was using at the time of the relevant sample collection and that he declared on his doping control form. Although no prohibited substances were listed on the supplement label, testing conducted on the contents of both the opened and sealed containers by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, indicated that they contained the prohibited substances found in Cannetti’s sample. This product has since been added to the High Risk List of supplements maintained on USADA’s online dietary supplement safety education and awareness resource – Supplement 411.

Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, as well as the World Anti-Doping Code, the determination that an athlete’s positive test was caused by a contaminated product may result in a reduced sanction. The sanction for a doping offense resulting from the use of a contaminated product ranges from a reprimand and no period of ineligibility, at a minimum, to a two-year period of ineligibility, at a maximum.

Cannetti’s 10-month sanction is retroactive to Oct. 28, 2016, meaning that he will be eligible to return near the end of this month. The positive test resulted in Cannetti being removed from a proposed bout with Marco Beltran at UFC Fight Night 98 in Mexico City.

The 37-year-old Buenos Aires native last appeared at UFC 190, where he earned a unanimous verdict against Hugo Viana. “Ninja” owns a 7-2 career mark that includes a second-round submission loss to Enrique Briones in his Octagon debut.