Sean O’Malley Reveals He’s Out of UFC 229 Due to Potential Doping Violation with USADA
“Sugar” Sean O’Malley has announced that he’s no longer competing at UFC 229 on Saturday night due to a potential doping violation that will force him off the card.
O’Malley announced the news on his Instagram account just six days away from his showdown with Jose Quinonez, which was expected to headline the UFC 229 prelims on FS1.
USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) just recently instituted a new policy where potential doping violations would not be made public until after the adjudication process has taken place but O’Malley decided to release the information himself.
Because of the potential doping violation, O’Malley has to be pulled from the card and he opted for transparency with his fans rather than falling off the card for some unknown reason.
“I want to be the first to let you know about what’s going on,” O’Malley wrote. “As many of you may have seen, the UFC announced this weekend that they are no longer announcing potential violations of the USADA program, because of the high number of unintentional use cases under the program and are instead waiting until the end. I find myself caught up in one of these exact cases right now. Even though under the new policy, my case would not be public right now, I feel it’s important to upfront and honest with my fans about why I’m not fighting next weekend.
“I’ve been working with Jeff Novitzky at the UFC and I believe that we have already identified a dietary supplement that would have caused this. We’ve sent the remaining samples from the bottle I took to the USADA lab and as well as a full sealed bottle. I’m told that the testing of these supplements can take as long as 30 days. I will continue to update you all about the findings, but I fully expect the results will be what I already know, that I did nothing on purpose.
“For everyone that follows me and was excited for my fight I’m truly sorry. It hurts a lot not being able to get out there and do what I love on the biggest stage. I have no intention of cheating and am fully confident that the results of this case will show that. I love my fans and I hope the impact on my career is minimal and I’m back to fighting real soon.”
It’s really unfortunate timing for O’Malley as he was set to headline the prelims on what is expected to be the biggest UFC card of the year.
O’Malley didn’t disclose what substance was found in his system but apparently he’s already working to identify a potential culprit out of the supplements he’s been taking in the lead up to his fight on Saturday night.
The UFC has made no official announcement about O’Malley being pulled from the card or what fight will now headline the UFC 229 prelims now that this matchup has been cancelled.
