Welterweight Jesse Taylor was removed from The Ultimate Fighter 7 nearly a decade ago for conduct unbecoming of a fighter, which is saying a lot. Then he won the aptly titled TUF 25: Redemption and $290,000 and a UFC contract. Then Taylor had a USADA anti-doping test flagged for the anti-estrogen agent clomiphene, and was removed from his fight with Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night 121 in Sydney, Australia, on November 18. Earlier this month he accepted the maximum, one-year penalty.
During a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Taylor said he believes the failed test was due to a tainted supplement said to increase sex drive and vigor in men, given to him by a holistic doctor. However, he said between testing costs and attorney fees, the cost to contest would be prohibitive – $20,000 to $40,000 – so he opted to accept the suspension.
Long story short, we kind of have an idea of who it is, I just don’t want to throw this guy’s name under the bus, because it’s not guaranteed, said Taylor, as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. I never tested the supplements and all that. I never took knowingly any clomiphene, anti-estrogen or anything of that nature.
I actually like what [USADA] are doing. But I think what’s going on is they’re starting to burn a lot of guys. … I think they’ve gotta look at other outside circumstances. They’ve gotta look at out-of-competition stuff, which this test was and they’ve gotta look at the drug. It’s not a steroid, it’s an anti-estrogen. They hear all those facts out, but they won’t actually start listening to them unless you actually fight it. Unless you actually go through the whole process.
I definitely want to move on. Again, it sucks, but like everything, you’ve gotta look at the blessings in disguise – Now I’ve got some fire. I’ve got some more fire to keep on fighting.
USADA told Raimondi that Taylor never mentioned a tainted supplement, and that had he done so, they would have tried to accommodate an investigation into how the clomiphene got into his system.
It’s surprising to us that Mr. Taylor is claiming his positive test resulted from his use of a contaminated product, as he never mentioned that possibility during any of our direct communications with him, and none of the information he provided led us to believe that might be the case,” read the statement. If Mr. Taylor had raised the prospect of supplement contamination, then as we have done in numerous other cases under the UFC Anti-Doping Program, we would have worked with him to investigate each of the supplements he was using prior to his positive test and helped make arrangements for the economical testing of those products for the presence of a prohibited substance.
Taylor will be eligible to return to the Octagon on September 14, 2018. He says during the time off he hopes to do some high profile grappling matches, and perhaps do kickboxing or boxing.
