What is drostanolone? UFC vet suspended for a year after positive test for the banned substance
United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced UFC heavyweight Walt Harris failed a drug test due to his usage of drostanolone.
Earlier this week, USADA confirmed ‘The Big Ticket’ had been suspended for one year. The 16-fight UFC veteran tested positive for drostanolone, an androgen and anabolic steroid used as a performance-enhancing drug.
Prior to USADA’s announcement, Harris had confirmed that he failed a drug test, but it was unclear for what. On July 15, the 40-year-old was scheduled to fight Josh Parisian inside the UFC APEX. Instead, he released the following statement on Instagram about having to pull out:
“Hello to my fans. I wanted you to hear from me first that my fight has been cancelled due to an issue that just came up with my most recent USADA test. I believe this came from a supplement that I’ve trusted my entire career, but at the end of the day it was never USADA-approved. I’m a complete idiot for not checking prior, but I’m definitely not a cheater.”
Harris concluded by saying:
“I sincerely want to apologize to my opponent Josh Parisian. I was looking forward to doing battle with you in the octagon. Once I get pass this if you’re down I hope we can try again! I am going to face this head on while working with UFC and USADA and hope to have all of this sorted out in the coming weeks. Thank you for your patience and support and I am looking forward to making this comeback very soon.”
When was Walt Harris’ last fight before testing positive for drostanolone?
Walt Harris made his UFC debut in November 2013. Since then, he’s established a promotional record of 6-9, with one no-contest. In 2019, ‘The Big Ticket’ had his best year by securing a 50-second knockout win against Serghei Spivac, followed by a 12-second knockout win against Aleksei Oleinik.
Unfortunately for him, he hasn’t won since due to three consecutive losses inside the distance against Alistair Overeem, Alexander Volkov, and Marcin Tybura. It’ll be intriguing to see if Harris can overcome his one-year suspension for drostanolone and return to the Octagon.