UFC bantamweight Guido Canetti has accepted a 10-month suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the UFC’s official anti-doping partner, for the use of a tainted supplement.

USADA today announced Canetti’s suspension, which is retroactive to the date of his retroactive suspension on Oct. 28, 2016.

Cannetti (7-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was scheduled to face Marco Beltran (8-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC)at UFC Fight Night 98 when an out-of-competition drug test revealed five banned substances were in his system. The 37-year-old Italian tested positive for ostarine, stanozolol metabolites 16β-hydroxystanozolol and 4β-hydroxystanozolol, hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide. He was subsequently pulled from the event.

Ostarine and stanozolol are banned anabolic agents, while hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide are classified as diuretics and masking agents.

“After notifying Cannetti of his positive test, USADA obtained opened and sealed containers of a dietary supplement that Cannetti was using at the time of the relevant sample collection and that he declared on his doping control form,” USADA stated in a press release announcing its decision. “Although no prohibited substances were listed on the supplement label, testing conducted on the contents of both the opened and sealed containers by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, indicated that they contained the prohibited substances found in Cannetti’s sample. This product has since been added to the High Risk List of supplements maintained on USADA’s online dietary supplement safety education and awareness resource – Supplement 411.

“Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, as well as the World Anti-Doping Code, the determination that an athlete’s positive test was caused by a contaminated product may result in a reduced sanction. The sanction for a doping offense resulting from the use of a contaminated product ranges from a reprimand and no period of ineligibility, at a minimum, to a two-year period of ineligibility, at a maximum.”

After he was pulled from the event, Cannetti emphatically denied using banned substances.

“I swear I do not take anything that has a prohibited substance,” he wrote on Instagram. “I am very sad that I can not fight until today I am (sic) training my maximum in each workout.

“I swear by my family that I do not take any prohibited substance, the only thing that may have been that a supplement I take has something I did not say, I hope this will be solved quickly by that I am very sad for all the sacrifice I made for this fight.”

Beltran, who defeated Cannetti via decision on “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America,” went on to fight Joe Soto, who submitted him in the first round with a heel hook.

Cannetti most recently fought in August 2015, defeating Hugo Viana via unanimous decision at UFC 190. The win brought his octagon record to 1-1.

Below is USADA’s full statement:

“UFC Athlete, Guido Cannetti, Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Policy Violation

“Colorado Springs, Colo. (August 18, 2017) – USADA announced today that UFC athlete, Guido Cannetti, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, accepted a 10-month sanction after testing positive for multiple prohibited substances from a contaminated supplement.

“Cannetti, 37, tested positive for ostarine, the stanozolol metabolites 16β-hydroxystanozolol and 4β-hydroxystanozolol, as well as hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide, following an out-of-competition test conducted on October 5, 2016. Ostarine and stanozolol are prohibited substances in the class of Anabolic Agents, while hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide are prohibited substances in the class of Diuretics and Masking Agents. These substances are prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

“After notifying Cannetti of his positive test, USADA obtained opened and sealed containers of a dietary supplement that Cannetti was using at the time of the relevant sample collection and that he declared on his doping control form. Although no prohibited substances were listed on the supplement label, testing conducted on the contents of both the opened and sealed containers by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, indicated that they contained the prohibited substances found in Cannetti’s sample. This product has since been added to the High Risk List of supplements maintained on USADA’s online dietary supplement safety education and awareness resource – Supplement 411 (www.Supplement411.org).

“Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, as well as the World Anti-Doping Code, the determination that an athlete’s positive test was caused by a contaminated product may result in a reduced sanction. The sanction for a doping offense resulting from the use of a contaminated product ranges from a reprimand and no period of ineligibility, at a minimum, to a two-year period of ineligibility, at a maximum.

“Cannetti’s 10-month period of ineligibility began on October 28, 2016, the date on which he was provisionally suspended from competition. As a result of his positive test, Cannetti was removed from the Card for the UFC Fight Night event in Mexico City that was held on November 5, 2016.”

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