Viscardi Andrade suspended for two years
Eleven months later, USADA has announced that Viscardi Andrade has received the full suspension.
In April of 2016, the UFC released a statement that welterweight fighter Viscardi Andrade had been notified by the US Anti-Doping Agency of a potential violation of their anti-doping policy. USADA is the UFC’s independent performance enhancing drug testing service. Eleven months later, USADA has announced that Andrade has received the full suspension.
USADA announced today that UFC athlete, Viscardi Andrade, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, received a two-year sanction, pursuant to the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, after testing positive for a prohibited substance.
Andrade, 33, tested positive for stanozolol and its metabolites, 16β‐hydroxy‐stanozolol and 3’‐hydroxy‐stanozolol, following an out-of-competition urine test conducted on March 7, 2016. Stanozolol is a non-Specified Substance in the category of Anabolic Agents and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
Andrade’s two-year period of ineligibility began on March 20, 2016, the day after his most recent bout, a victory, at the UFC Fight Night event in Brisbane, Australia, on March 19, 2016. Per the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, an Anti-Doping Policy Violation occurring during, or in connection with, a bout may, upon the decision of UFC, lead to disqualification of all the athlete’s results obtained in that bout. Here, because Andrade’s violation resulted from a sample collection that occurred prior to his bout, all information surrounding Andrade’s positive test and sanction has been provided to UFC to make the determination concerning his competition results.
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 UFC is likely to determine that Viscardi’s Unanimous Decision over Richard Walsh Decision at UFC Fight Night 85: Hunt vs. Mir on March 20, 2016, in Brisbane, Australia, must be declared a No Contest.