A promising young Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight has
just hit a huge snag in his career.
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On Friday, the U.S.
Anti-Doping Agency announced that Hamdy
Abdelwahab failed a post-fight drug test on July 30, 2022, for
methenolone, an anabolic steroid. Additionally, before USADA
notified him of his failure, they tested him again on August 27 of
that year, and once more he had methenolone in his system. Due to
the lack of notification on USADA’s end, the two failed tests will
be considered one violation, and he will receive a two-year
suspension effective the July test date.
Abdelwahab made his debut on short notice at UFC 277 on July 30,
and he defeated Don’Tale
Mayes by split decision in a thriller. The agency requires that
fighters entering the testing pool disclose any substances they
have taken in the last year, so that they can sit out until testing
clean without suffering a penalty. If fighters do not disclose a
substance they have taken prior to competition, and then test
positive for it, USADA considers it a “tampering violation.” The
rationale, according to the drug testing agency, is that Abdelwahab
knew he was taking this banned substance and also knew that he was
required to disclose it, but decided against doing so.
As Abdelwahab failed his drug test in Texas, additional sanctions
from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation may follow.
Per
commission documents, his win over Mayes has been overturned as
a result.
USADA’s statement regarding Abdelwahab reads as follows:
”USADA announced today that Hamdy
Abdelwahab, of Bronx, N.Y., has accepted a two-year sanction
for violations of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy.
“Abdelwahab, 30, tested positive for methenolone (metenolone) and
its metabolite (3α-hydroxy-1-methylene-5α-andostan-17-one) as the
result of a sample collected in-competition on July 30, 2022, and a
sample collected out-of-competition on August 27, 2022. Because
Abdelwahab was not yet notified of his first positive test when his
second test was collected, the two positive tests are combined into
a single violation. Methenolone is a non-Specified Substance in the
class of Anabolic Agents and is prohibited at all times under the
UFC Anti-Doping Policy (the Policy) and UFC Prohibited List.
“Upon being added to the UFC Anti-Doping Program, athletes are
required to declare prohibited substances they have used in the
previous 12 months and the failure to make such a declaration,
absent a compelling justification, is considered a tampering
violation under section 2.5.2 of the Policy. Abdelwahab did not
declare the use of methenolone on his onboarding declaration forms
and did not establish a compelling justification for his failure to
do so. Based on USADA’s investigation, it was determined that
Abdelwahab used the prohibited substance and knew of his obligation
to declare it. The evidence constitutes a tampering violation in
addition to the violation for his positive test for
methenolone.”