...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Two fighters who picked up quick and impressive wins in Las Vegas earlier this month have now been suspended, as they failed drug tests in the first weekend of the month.
According to a report from MMAJunkie.com, Kevin Casey and Robert Drysdale failed tests out of UFC 175 and The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale, respectively, and the UFC has since released a statement on their test failures.
Casey tested positive for the steroid drostanolone, while Drysdale had a testosterone to epitestosterone ratio of 12 to 1, indicative of exogenous testosterone use.
"The UFC has been notified by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that UFC middleweight Kevin Casey and light heavyweight Robert Drysdale failed drug tests following their fights at UFC 175 and The Ultimate Fighter Finale, respectively," The UFC's statement read. "Casey tested positive for drostanolone and Drysdale was flagged for an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. Both fighters have been temporarily suspended from competition and informed their positive tests violated the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy and Promotional Agreement with Zuffa, LLC. The UFC has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents by our athletes and will support the NSAC's determination pending a formal hearing at a later date."
Both fighters have been temporarily suspended pending a formal hearing, but their wins - Casey's 61 second win over Bubba Bush and Drysdale's first round injury win over Keith Berish - will surely be overturned to no contests.
Penick's Analysis: In the case of Drysdale, this is especially disappointing. He already failed a drug test last fall when he was attempting to get an exemption for TRT, and blamed it on paperwork issues, which now comes off even worse. As for Casey, it's another unfortunate drug test failure, but shows the NAC catching a small percentage again of those cheating. that it happened on fight night means neither timed their drug usage well enough to avoid detection on the night of their respective fights. Either way, this is bad for both of them.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
