Diego Ferreira accepts 17-month suspension from USADA following April failed drug test

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) today announced Diego Ferreira has accepted a 17-month suspension for an anti-doping policy violation.

Ferreira (12-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) was set to face Abel Trujillo (14-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 88 on May 29 in Las Vegas. After being tested out-of-competition by UFC anti-doping partner USADA, his test came back positive for Ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator with steroid-like properties.

That positive test was in addition to Ferreira self-reporting use of a supplement that contained another banned substance, 7-keto-DHEA.

After being handed a 12-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) in June, USADA officials today announced Ferreira has accepted a 17-month suspension, retroactive to Apr. 29. The 17-month ban is longer than the year he initially got from the NSAC, but shorter than the two years that was possible under USADA’s maximum penalty.

According to USADA:

Ferreira, 31, tested positive for Ostarine as a result of an out-of-competition drug test conducted on April 29, 2016. During the sample collection process, Ferreira declared the use of a product on his sample paperwork that listed the prohibited substance 7-keto-DHEA (7-keto-dehydroepiandrosterone) as an ingredient. Ferreira’s sample was subsequently reported as adverse for the presence of Ostarine, a prohibited Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM), along with a laboratory finding that was consistent with Ferreira’s declared use of a product containing 7-keto-DHEA. Both Ostarine and 7-keto-DHEA are prohibited substances in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the WADA Prohibited List.

Following notification of his positive test, Ferreira tested several of the supplement products he was reportedly using at the time of his positive test. Although Ostarine was not listed on any of the supplement labels, preliminary testing conducted on the supplement product that listed 7-keto-DHEA as an ingredient indicated that it also contained Ostarine.

At USADA’s request, the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, independently obtained and analyzed the contents of an unopened container of the supplement in question. That testing conclusively confirmed that although the supplement only listed one prohibited substance as an ingredient (7-keto-DHEA), it actually contained 7-keto-DHEA and a second undeclared prohibited substance (Ostarine) as well. Ferreira advised USADA that although he researched the product prior to using it, he did not realize 7-keto-DHEA was a prohibited substance, or that the supplement contained Ostarine. The product has since been added to the list of high risk supplements maintained on USADA’s online dietary supplement safety education and awareness resource – Supplement 411 (www.supplement411.org).

Although Ferreira violation was ground for up a two-year suspension, USADA explained that “the circumstances” around his situation allowed room for a slighter lesser punishment.

Based on the circumstances of Ferreira’s violation, USADA determined that a reduction to 17-months from the standard two-year period of ineligibility was justified. With this resolution, Ferreira has accepted a period of ineligibility that is longer than the one-year sanction imposed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) on June 21, 2016. Although Ferreira’s sanction under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy arises out of the same set of facts that led to his NSAC sanction, per the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the UFC will recognize and enforce the lengthier period of ineligibility agreed to by USADA and Ferreira.

Prior to his drug failure, Ferreira’s career had rebounded. He won a unanimous decision over Olivier Aubin-Mercier in January at UFC on FOX 18 following a pair of losses to Beneil Dariush and Dustin Poirier.

Ferreira will be eligible to return to competition in late September 2017.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 88, check out the UFC Events section of the site.