TUF: China winner Ning Guangyou has managed to avoid being suspended despite testing for banned performance enhancing drug Clenbuterol.
Traces of the PED were found in a urine sample taken during an out-of-competition test back in May, but after an investigation USADA have determined that Guangyou didn’t deliberately take the substance.
Instead, they believe that Guangyou ingested clenbuterol from tainted meat, which is known to be a significant issue in China where he lives and trains.
Guangyou is currently 2-1 in his UFC career and is coming off a loss to Marco Beltran in his bantamweight debut back at UFC Fight Night 79 in November of last year.
With this drug test blip out of the way, Guangyou will no doubt be hoping to resume his UFC career as soon as possible.
Read USADA’s full statement on the matter below.
“USADA announced today that UFC athlete Ning Guangyou, of China, has tested positive for a prohibited substance, which was determined to have been ingested by him without fault or negligence.
Guangyou, 34, tested positive for trace amounts of clenbuterol as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on May 19, 2016. Clenbuterol is an Anabolic Agent prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List. Consistent with numerous prior reported cases globally, the issue of illicit administration of clenbuterol to animals destined for food production can result in, under specific conditions, a positive sample from an athlete. WADA has issued specific warnings about this problem in China and Mexico. To USADA’s knowledge, due to strict regulatory and meat certification practices, a clenbuterol positive athlete sample has never been reported after consumption of meat produced in the U.S.
USADA reviewed all of the evidence, including the athlete’s whereabouts, dietary habits, and the laboratory reports demonstrating very low parts per billion concentrations of the prohibited substance in the athlete’s urine sample, and concluded that the presence of clenbuterol in the athlete’s sample very likely resulted from clenbuterol contaminated meat consumed in China. As a result, Guangyou will not face a period of ineligibility for his positive test.
While the risk of consuming clenbuterol-tainted meat and testing positive for an athlete is extremely small, consistent with past athlete advisories, USADA reminds athletes to use the utmost care if eating meat in known high risk countries, including Mexico and China. In line with WADA recommendations, USADA will continue to assess the presence of clenbuterol in an athlete’s sample on a case by case basis, taking into account all the evidence supporting the likelihood of such contamination.”
