Rogerio Bontorin has accepted a three-month sanction by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after a banned diuretic known as hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) was found in an out-of-competition urine sample collected earlier this year. The UFC flyweight has already completed his suspension as it was not only reduced from one year but also retroactive to the date he tested positive, which was May 1.
Bontorin was notified of his violation following his unanimous decision win over Matt Schnell at UFC 262. The Brazilian said that a tainted supplement was responsible for the positive test and provided the agency with two open dietary supplements he purchased from a Brazilian compounding pharmacy. The supplements were tested and were found to indeed contain HCTZ, which went unlisted on the product labels. However, Bontorin was still sanctioned because the supplements used were not certified by USADA.
The full statement from USADA on Bontorin can be seen here.
Bontorin has his next Octagon assignment sorted out as Guilherme Cruz and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting have reported that he will return at an upcoming UFC event scheduled for Jan. 15 against Brandon Royval. His fight against Schnell was contested at bantamweight due to its short-notice nature, but Bontorin will compete at flyweight again.
Royval — the current No. 5 ranked flyweight — saw his four-fight win streak snapped with a first-round technical knockout loss to Brandon Moreno at UFC 255 in what was considered a No. 1 contender fight. ‘Raw Dawg’ attempted to return to the win column in his next outing opposite of a fellow contender in Alexandre Pantoja at UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs. Gastelum, but was defeated by way of second-round rear-naked choke.
Other fights targeted for the event alongside Bontorin vs. Royval, include Joanderson Brito vs. Bill Algeo and Kleydson Rodrigues vs. Zarrukh Adashev.
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