Sullivan accepts second year-long suspension

Last year UFC welterweight George Sullivan was suspended for one year by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). While under suspension he remained subject to testing, and a test was flagged, leading quickly to a provisional suspension. On its face, it appears to be a case of an incorrigible doper.

But it’s not.

Last year Sullivan voluntarily disclosed that he was taking a deer antler velvet supplement; it apparently contained the banned substance Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1). The fighter says the drug does not appear on the bottle; USADA says the manufacturer lists IGF-1 in the product on its website. And Sullivan never tested positive for IGF-1. He got a one-year suspension for simply declaring that he was taking something that says on the website contains something prohibited.

While suspended Sullivan tested positive for Clomiphene, the same drug that Jon Jones and Brock Lensar tested positive for. It can be used to restart normal hormone production in the body following a cycle of steroids. Lesnar never did figure out where it came from. Jones got it from taking a contaminated bootleg erectile dysfunction drug. Sullivan was taking it under the care of a physician for fertility, as he and his wife want to have children.

Sullivan started taking it two days before a tester showed up at his gym at 5:00 a.m. and he forgot to mention it on the disclosure form. A planned fight with Randy Brown at UFC 208 was scrapped.

Now USADA has suspended Sullivan for a second year. It could have been worse, as a second test failure ordinarily results in a two-year suspension.

Via USADA.org.

USADA announced today that UFC athlete, George Sullivan, of Toms River, N.J., has tested positive for a prohibited substance and accepted a one-year sanction for his second anti-doping policy violation.

Sullivan, 36, tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolite, 4-hydroxyclomiphene, following an out-of-competition urine test conducted on January 14, 2017. Clomiphene is a Specified Substance in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

Upon notification of his positive test, Sullivan immediately identified a prescription fertility medication as the source of the prohibited substance detected in his sample. After a thorough review of the case, including the examination of medical records provided by the athlete, USADA confirmed that Sullivan’s positive test was caused by Clomiphene Citrate, which he was using in a therapeutic dose under the care of a physician to treat a medical condition. The prescribed use of the medication by Sullivan is considered an off-label treatment, as Clomiphene Citrate is not approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for use by males.

Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, as well as the World Anti-Doping Code, an athlete’s period of ineligibility for using a prohibited substance may be decreased if the athlete lacks significant fault for the anti-doping policy violation. In this instance, USADA determined that Sullivan’s degree of fault was reduced because his use of Clomiphene Citrate was under the care of his physician for a documented medical condition. Accordingly, Sullivan received a reduction to one year from the standard two-year period of ineligibility that could have been imposed for a second offense involving a Specified Substance.

Sullivan will be eligible to return to competition on January 14, 2018. And the sport is saved once again from the bane of deer antler eaters and guys that want to have kids.