Mir suspended for two years
Upon learning of the positive results of the sample analyzed in Tokyo, USADA had all previously collected stored samples for Mir reanalyzed
In April of 2016, it was announced that former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir failed a test for Oral Turinabol metabolites. He speculated that it might have come from the ingestion of kangaroo meat. However, kangaroo meat in Australia is not farmed. It is, in fact, the world’s largest consumptive mammalian wildlife industry. So while Mir could have taken it in a tainted supplement, the kangaroo theory is implausible. And it was further undercut by the latest announcement.
Mir cannot work as a color commentator or analyst for FOX or the UFC during a suspension, or during the provisional suspension before it. He has asked for a release from his UFC contract, so he can try his hand at boxing or kickboxing; that was not granted.
A year after the infraction, Mir has been suspended for two years, retroactive to April 8, 2016, the date of his provision suspension. He can return to fighting on April 8, 2018.
Via USADA.org.
Mir, 38, tested positive for a long-term metabolite of dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT), following an in-competition test conducted on March 20, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 85 in Brisbane, Australia. DHCMT is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List. The finding of a long-term DHCMT metabolite in Mir’s sample, which was identified through a new detection method by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Tokyo, Japan, led to Mir being provisionally suspended from competition on April 8, 2016.
Upon learning of the positive results of the sample analyzed in Tokyo, USADA had all previously collected stored samples for Mir reanalyzed at the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah (SMRTL), which had also recently implemented methodology for the detection of newly identified long-term DHCMT metabolites. As a result of the additional analyses, SMRTL discovered that an out-of-competition sample Mir provided on February 5, 2016, which had previously been reported to USADA as negative for the presence of prohibited substances, was also positive for the same long-term DHCMT metabolite found in Mir’s in-competition sample.
As investment and commitment to anti-doping research increases, significant advancements in laboratory testing methods have allowed for improved sensitivity and longer detection windows. By continually utilizing the most advanced testing methods as part of a comprehensive retesting program, USADA aims to maximize both the deterrence and detection of doping so athletes who seek an unfair advantage are held accountable now and in the future.
Pursuant to the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, all UFC athletes serving a period of ineligibility for an anti-doping policy violation are required to remain in the USADA registered testing pool and make themselves available for testing in order to receive credit for time served under his or her sanction. Furthermore, if an athlete retires during his or her period of ineligibility, the athlete’s sanction will be tolled until such time the athlete notifies USADA of his or her return from retirement and once again makes him or herself available for no-advance-notice, out-of-competition testing.
The retesting of old samples when more sophisticated testing becomes available is yet another tool in the UFC laudable and largely successful efforts to stop performance enhancing drug use by the sport’s most elite athletes.
