Jon Fitch is the latest high-profile fighter to be busted for performance enhancing drugs with the California State Athletic Commission confirming yesterday that he tested positive for an illegal substance during a pre-fight drugs test at World Series Of Fighting 16 on December 13th.
At this stage CSAC has not revealed exactly which PED Fitch took, but it’s believed that it may have been elevated levels of testosterone that raised a red flag. The results of the test have only now been made public due to the initial result having then been confirmed with a Carbon Isotope Ratio test.
As a result of his failed test the 36 year-old Fitch now faces a nine month suspension from the sport and a $2,500 fine.
Fitch’s test results are a surprise given that he’s never had issues with this in the past and in fact has been vocal in his dissaproval of PED’s.
“HA! TRT? It is a joke,” Fitch told Fight Hub TV after joining WSOF in May of 2013. “This is devised to let guys who have used steroids in their past re-boost their testosterone since they abused their bodies when they were younger. The guys using it, the ones who use the excuse of, ‘I am too old to compete with young guys,’ – that’s bulls***! I am 35 years old, and I promise, I would and will bet money that my testosterone levels are just as good as a younger fighter. You know why? Because I have not wrecked my body with steroids, never used ANY type of PED and train healthy and properly to compete.”
Fitch hasn’t had an easy time of it since then though. He was expected to make an immediate impression when he made his WSOF debut against Josh Burkman just a few weeks after those comments, but instead he succumbed to a first round guillotine choke defeat.
At that stage he’d emerged victorious in just one of his last five fights – a far cry from the peak of his UFC career where he had an aura of invincibility with just one loss in fourteen Ocagon outings.
Fitch has since picked up a couple of wins for WSOF which earned him the title shot against Rousimar Palhares at WSOF 16, but he lasted just 90 seconds before being tapped out due to a kneebar and the failed drug test on top of that further damages his reputation.
