Ostarine has again popped up as the culprit in contaminated supplement cases involving UFC fighters, with four fighters accepting six-month suspensions, per the promotion’s anti-doping administrator.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) today announced settlements after out-of-competition test failures from Augusto Mendes (March 7, 2018), Marvin Vettori (August 24, 2018), Sean O’Malley (September 5 and December 8, 2018) and inaugural flyweight champ Nicco Montano (October 25, 2018).

All but one – Montano – is eligible to compete with their six-month terms retroactive to the date of their provisional suspensions.

Both O’Malley and Vettori took to social media to share their reactions.

“I’m freeeeee,” O’Malley tweeted. “July 6th I’m busting someone up.”

Vettori, meanwhile, issued a statement on Instagram aimed at “all people that talked (expletive) in the past year.”

View this post on Instagram

To all people that talked shit in the past year: now stop everything that you are doing. Run to the bathroom, do a real good deep mouthwash, now do it again, then look yourself in the mirror and slap your mouth real nice. Then go back at the place you were, keep doing what you were doing. I’m back motherfuckers! Deal with it. #theitaliandream

A post shared by Marvin Vettori (@marvinvettori) on Apr 23, 2019 at 2:20pm PDT

Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that’s banned year round and is sold worldwide as a compound that mimics anabolic steroids. USADA has pushed legislators to outlaw supplements that contain ostarine amid several UFC positives.

Welterweight Tim Means, a longtime teammate of Montano, accepted a six-month term after linking his failed test to a commercial product. Heavyweight Josh Barnett successfully avoided a suspension when he documented his use; both are suing the supplement manufacturers.

USADA explained the delay in announcing the settlements as a consequence of the long results management process in tainted supplement cases.

It’s not the first time USADA has announced a group of settlements following the discovery of tainted supplements. One year ago, the anti-doping agency cut a deal with three Brazilian fighters after they took supplements from compounding pharmacies that allegedly sold products tainted with PEDs. Junior dos Santos was critical of the third-party firm for delaying his career.

USADA no longer announces potential anti-doping violations, instead waiting for a case – or cases – to be resolved. In Mendes’ case, news of his positive was publicly revealed because the anti-doping agency’s new policy hadn’t taken effect.

In the case of Vettori and O’Malley, both fighters announced they’d failed USADA tests and vowed to contest the results. O’Malley’s pair of test failures was treated as a single violation because the amount of ostarine in both samples was consistent with ingestion prior to his first positive.

Here is the full announcement:

USADA announced today that four athletes have accepted six-month sanctions for violating the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for trace amounts of ostarine consistent with supplement contamination.

Ostarine 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. Ostarine, also known as MK-2866 and Enobosarm, is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that is illegally sold worldwide as a performance-enhancing substance. Ostarine is not currently available as a prescription medication in any country, and its unauthorized use may carry serious side effects. Nonetheless, ostarine has commonly been found as a declared and undeclared ingredient in many dietary supplements. More information about the risks of ostarine can be found through a USADA athlete advisory.

USADA’s athlete advisory recognizes the demonstrated prevalence of ostarine in a wide range of supplement products used by athletes (see USADA High Risk List for more than 70 products) and that ostarine has frequently been found as a product contaminant. The trace amounts of ostarine found in each of the athlete’s samples was made possible by sensitive laboratory detection capabilities. However, as detection windows increase and the potential time between ingestion and detection lengthens, it has become more difficult for athletes to identify a contaminated product that may be the source of their positive test. As a consequence, the investigation period in ostarine cases is frequently relatively long, as has been the case in each of the cases announced today.

USADA has resolved the following cases, after conducting a thorough investigation and finding no evidence of intentional use, consistent with other supplement contamination cases:

Augusto Mendes, 36, of Glendale, Ariz., tested positive for ostarine following an out-of-competition test conducted on March 7, 2018. He accepted a six-month period of ineligibility that began on March 20, 2018, the date he was provisionally suspended from competition.
Marvin Vettori, 25, of Mezzocorona, Italy, tested positive for ostarine following an out-of-competition test conducted on August 24, 2018. He accepted a six-month period of ineligibility that began on August 24, 2018, the date he was provisionally suspended from competition.
Sean O’Malley, 24, of Phoenix, Ariz., tested positive for ostarine following out-of-competition tests conducted on September 5, 2018 and December 8, 2018. His two positives were treated as a single, first violation because the amount of ostarine in both samples is consistent with ingestion prior to September 5, 2018. He accepted a six-month period of ineligibility that began on September 19, 2018, the date he was provisionally suspended from competition.
Nicco Montano, 30, of Albuquerque, N.M., tested positive for ostarine following an out-of-competition test conducted on October 25, 2018. She accepted a six-month period of ineligibility that began on November 15, 2018, the date she was provisionally suspended from competition.
USADA conducts the year-round, independent anti-doping program for all UFC athletes. USADA is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental agency whose sole mission is to preserve the integrity of competition, inspire true sport, and protect the rights of clean athletes. In an effort to aid UFC athletes, as well as their support team members, in understanding the rules applicable to them, USADA provides comprehensive instruction on the UFC Anti-Doping Program website (https://UFC.USADA.org) regarding the testing process and prohibited substances, how to obtain permission to use a necessary medication, and the risks and dangers of taking supplements as well as performance-enhancing and recreational drugs. In addition, the agency manages a drug reference hotline, Drug Reference Online (https://UFC.GlobalDRO.com), conducts educational sessions, and proactively distributes a multitude of educational materials, such as the Prohibited List, easy-reference wallet cards, and periodic athlete alerts.

Along with education and testing, robust anti-doping programs enable investigations stemming from tips and whistleblowers. USADA makes available a number of ways to report the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs in sport in an effort to protect clean athletes and promote clean competition. Any tip can be reported using the USADA Play Clean Tip Center, by email at playclean@usada.org, by phone at 1‑877-Play Clean (1-877-752-9253), or by mail.

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