BCAC: Ali Bagautinov tests positive for EPO for UFC 174, suspended one year

MMA has its latest performance-enhancing drug suspension in the form of a recent title challenger.

Ali Bagautinov (13-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) prior to his UFC 174 flyweight title fight against champion Demetrious Johnson (20-2-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC), the British Columbia Athletic Commission on Thursday announced.

In response, the BCAC has suspended Bagautinov for one year. The BCAC released the results of its drug tests for the event to MMAjunkie on Thursday.

UFC 174 took place in Vancouver on June 14. The main card, with Johnson vs. Bagautinov in the headliner, aired on pay-per-view. Johnson won a unanimous decision, taking a sweep of the judges’ scorecards with a trio of 50-45 tallies.

The BCAC said it tested eight competitors from UFC 174 on the night of the fight – Johnson and Bagautinov as title fighters, plus six fighters at random. The fighters were tested for performance-enhancers and drugs of abuse, using the standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency, as well as internal policies.

Bagautinov, however, also was tested out of competition on June 2, the commission said.

“Results received by this office from the June 2 tests on Mr. Bagautinov were positive for erythropoietin, or EPO – a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency,” BCAC Commissioner Dave Maedel stated. “These results were not available prior to the UFC 174 event due to lab processing times. Mr. Bagautinov lost his bid for the flyweight title to Demetrious Johnson. I have suspended Mr. Bagautinov’s licence to compete in British Columbia for a period of one year.”

EPO is a hormone that controls the production of red blood cells. In sports as a performance enhancer, it is perhaps best known in the world of professional cycling, where it became best associated with Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner who was found to have used EPO as part of a doping “cocktail.” He eventually was stripped of his titles and had his name removed from the race’s record books.

The UFC has not yet released an official statement on Bagautinov’s alleged positive test.

Bagautinov, a Dagestan native living in Moscow who spends some of his training time at the Greg Jackson-Mike Winkeljohn camp in Albuquerque, N.M., brought an 11-fight winning streak into the title fight against Johnson.

For complete coverage of UFC 174, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Ali Bagautinov)