Marco Polo Reyes Accepts 6 Month Suspension From USADA

This past March, UFC fighter Marco Polo Reyes was notified of a potential violation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

The fighter has since accepted a six month suspension from USADA, which is a reduced suspension because USADA tested the supplement Reyes failed for an deemed that it was tainted.

Reyes suspension is retroactive to the date of the failure, March 15, so the fighter is already eligible to fight again.

Here is the full press release from USADA on the matter:

USADA announced today that Marco Leopoldo Reyes, known professionally as Polo Reyes, of Nayarit, Mexico, has accepted a six-month sanction for a violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for a prohibited substance from a contaminated supplement.

Reyes, 33, tested positive for ostarine following an out-of-competition test conducted on March 8, 2018. Ostarine is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Ostarine, also known as MK-2866 and Enobosarm, is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that is illegally sold worldwide as a performance-enhancing substance. Ostarine is not currently available as a prescription medication in any country, and its unauthorized use may carry serious side effects. Nonetheless, ostarine has been found as a declared and undeclared ingredient in many dietary supplements. More information about the risks of ostarine can be found through a USADA athlete advisory.

Following notification of his positive test, Reyes provided USADA with information about two dietary supplement products he was using at the time of the relevant sample collection. Although no prohibited substances were listed on the supplement labels, testing conducted on independently sourced, unopened containers of the products by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, indicated that they contained Ostarine.

The presence of an undisclosed prohibited substance in a product is regarded as contamination. Accordingly, 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).

Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, as well as the World Anti-Doping Code, the determination that an athlete’s positive test was caused by a contaminated product may result in a reduced sanction. Where contamination is established, the sanction for a doping offense involving a non-Specified Substance ranges from a reprimand and no period of ineligibility, at a minimum, to a two-year period of ineligibility, at a maximum.

Here, USADA took into consideration the circumstances that resulted in Reyes’ positive test, including his failure to thoroughly research the contaminated supplement and supplier. As such, USADA determined that a six-month period of ineligibility was an appropriate sanction under the rules for his violation.

Reyes’ six-month period of ineligibility began on March 15, 2018, the date on which he was provisionally suspended from competition.