UFC welterweight George Sullivan draws one-year suspension from USADA

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight George Sullivan was pulled from his Randy Brown fight ahead of the UFC 208 pay-per-view (PPV) event last February after getting pinched by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), his second violation in the course of two years.

The culprit? Clomiphene and its metabolite, 4-hydroxyclomiphene.

Sullivan promptly applied for a retroactive therapeutic use exemption (TUE), which worked in the case of this former champion, but alas, USADA was only willing to meet him halfway, to the tune of a 12-month time out.

From the official website:

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 for return on Jan. 14, 2018.

While a one-year suspension is likely a welcome reduction, Sullivan is already 36, which means the clock is ticking on his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. Currently unranked, the New Jersey native — 3-2 under the UFC banner — will have his work cut out for him upon his eventual return.

See you next year.