Gokhan Saricam Accepts Sanction for
Violation of PFL Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/U5STdxlebp— USADA (@usantidoping)
July 11, 2024
The 2024 Professional Fighters League campaign for
Gokhan
Saricam was over before it could begin.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
announced on Thursday that Saricam had failed a pair of
out-of-competition tests in April and May. The heavyweight from
Turkey tested positive for clomiphene and its related metabolites,
which are banned both in and out of competition under USADA and PFL
policies. As a result, Saricam has been issued a one-year
suspension effective the date of the first failed test, April
29.
Advertisement
Saricam last competed under the Bellator MMA banner, doing so for his previous seven
matchups. Planning on joining the PFL heavyweight bracket, he was
once booked against Steve Mowry
as a late addition to the season. When Mowry withdrew from the
fight, Danilo
Marques stepped in his place, but Saricam was then forced out
due for undisclosed reasons later determined to be flagged by
USADA. Saricam won his last time out, taking a decision over
Daniel
James to get back in the win column, and he will be eligible to
compete again at the end of April 2025.
The
full statement from USADA reads as follows:
”USADA announced today that Gokhan
Saricam, of Belgium, has accepted a one-year sanction for a
violation of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) Anti-Doping
Policy.
“Saricam, 33, tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolites as
the result of samples collected out-of-competition on April 29,
2024 and May 12, 2024. Because Saricam was not yet notified of the
positive tests after both samples were collected, they were treated
as a single violation. Clomiphene is a Specified Substance in the
class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and is prohibited at all
times under the PFL Anti-Doping Policy and PFL Prohibited List.
Saricam’s one-year period of ineligibility began on April 29, 2024,
the date his first positive sample was collected.”