UFC Fighter Rachael Ostovish Receives Suspension for Positive PED Test

UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich has been handed a one-year suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

The U.S. Anti-Doping agency revealed that the UFC women’s flyweight accepted a one-year sanction for breaching the promotion’s anti-doping policy by testing positive for ostarine and GW1516 metabolites, as reported by MMA Junkie.

Ostovich’s positive test resulted from an out-of-competition urine sample collected on January 3rd. USADA stated that Ostovich will be eligible to return on August 3rd as she received a four-month credit due to time served under a provisional suspension in late 2019 for an atypical finding.

“During the investigation into the circumstances of the positive test, Ostovich-Berdon revealed a supplement she had taken, which was analyzed at the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City,” USADA stated. “While ostarine and GW1516 were not listed on the supplement label, the analysis showed that the product contained these substances, leading to Ostovich-Berdon’s positive test. Although another prohibited substance was listed on the product label, Ostovich-Berdon was unaware at the time that it was banned. In line with similar cases, USADA decided that a slight reduction from the standard two-year ineligibility period was warranted.

“Ostovich-Berdon received an additional reduction to the applicable period of ineligibility for her full and honest cooperation. Under the revised UFC ADP introduced on November 25, 2019, a cooperation reduction may be granted if an athlete can show that their intention was not to enhance performance and provided thorough, timely, and truthful responses and information to all inquiries and requests for information.”

Ostovich was scheduled to face Shana Dobson in New Zealand in February 2020, a fight that puzzled many at the time. However, the reason has now come to light.

Fortunately for Rachael Ostovich, she can rely on her substantial Instagram following of 686,000 followers, which could potentially generate income for her.