Rising star Sean O’Malley has revealed that he’s off this weekend’s UFC 219 card afer failing a pre-fight drug test.
Due to a new change in USADA’s policies, they no longer announce if a fighter has potentially violated their drug testing until they have fully reviewed the matter, but nonetheless, O’Malley has taken it upon himself to reveal what’s happened and assure fans that he believes he’s already identified a tainted supplement that would prove he’s innocent of any wrongdoing.
Read O’Malley’s full statement below.
“I want to be the first to let you know about what’s going on,” O’Malley stated on Instagram. “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.”
