Fighter Marc-André Barriault failed a doping test following his first UFC victory on June 20 in Las Vegas. The Quebecker and his entourage plead innocence.
It was Barriault (12-4) himself who revealed the information in a statement sent in English and French to the media. The result was the presence of a small dose of ostarine, a prohibited substance that builds muscle mass and improves endurance. It is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM).
This is the same substance to which boxer Lucian Bute tested positive in 2016. He was subsequently cleared of any accusation of cheating since he had ingested the product by accident due to an error coming from a Californian laboratory.
Barriault, who lives in Quebec, swears he never intentionally took this product and believes that contamination of one of his dietary supplements could be the cause of this positive test. He recalls that the 10 previous tests that he passed during his career did not reveal any anomalies.
“We were informed last week of this result,” said his agent Stéphane Patry, contacted by The newspaper. We’re talking about 190 shares per trillion, it’s immensely small. We are all convinced that this is contamination. When an athlete takes ostarine [pour améliorer ses performances], the quantity present is 1000 times greater. “
Samples analyzed
Barriault, who lost his first three outings in the UFC Octagon before winning by technical knockout against Poland’s Oskar Piechota in the gaming capital, and his team are hard at work to restore his record. He is currently under temporary suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Samples of supplements in which the banned substance could have been found have been sent to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), its agent said. The results will be known soon.
“The challenge is to find which supplement is contaminated,” said Stéphane Patry. We are confident we can find it. ”
According to him, once light is shed on this incident, his client’s reputation will remain intact.
“If we are able to prove that it is contamination, his name will not be tainted. There have been other cases of supplement contamination and the athletes weren’t singled out for it. ”
“I’m obviously disappointed with this turn of events, but I’m confident that I will be able to identify the offending product and offer an exact explanation for this positive result,” the 30-year-old fighter added in a statement. I will continue to cooperate fully with the Nevada Athletic Commission to get back to the Octagon as quickly as possible. ”
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