Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Felipe Olivieri has been suspended two years by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for failing an out-of-competition drug test on Jan. 11, 2016. Olivieri tested positive for the presence of 5α-tetrahydromethyltestosterone and 5β–tetrahydromethyltestosterone, which are metabolites of methyltestosterone, according to the official statement.
Olivieri decided to appeal his failed drug test, but an arbitrator ultimately suspended him for a period of two years.
USADA announced today that an independent Arbitrator for McLaren Global Sports Solutions, Inc. (MGSS) has rendered a decision in the case of UFC® athlete, Felipe Olivieri, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and determined that Olivieri should receive a two-year period of ineligibility for his anti-doping policy violation. Following an out-of-competition urine test on January 11, 2016, Olivieri, 31, tested positive for the presence of 5α-tetrahydromethyltestosterone and 5β–tetrahydromethyltestosterone, which are metabolites of methyltestosterone. Methyltestosterone 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. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the standard sanction for a policy violation involving a non-specified substance is a two-year period of ineligibility. If an athlete exercises his or her right to contest the imposition of the standard sanction, as Olivieri did, that case must be heard by independent arbitrators, per the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.
Olivieri contested the asserted doping offense by arguing that the laboratory results for his urine sample should be disregarded based on alleged breaches of the chain of custody and an alleged lack of competency by the testing laboratory. In rejecting the athlete’s claims, the Arbitrator concluded that Olivieri failed to establish that the sample chain of custody and analysis, which was conducted by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Rio de Janeiro, had been compromised. Because Olivieri did not present any mitigating evidence with respect to his level of fault during the appeal process, the Arbitrator imposed the standard period of ineligibility for Olivieri’s doping offense. Olivieri’s two-year period of ineligibility began on March 10, 2016, the date of his provisional suspension.
Olivieri was last seen coming up short at UFC on FOX 18 on Jan. 30, 2016, via third-round submission. Felipe (31) -- who was making his Octagon debut on the FOX-televised event -- will be able to return to action in March 2018.