UFC welterweight Daniel Rodriguez has announced that he tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug ostarine and has been pulled from his upcoming fight against Santiago Ponzinibbio, with Rodriguez claiming that the test result was due to a tainted supplement.
UFC welterweight Daniel Rodriguez announced that he has failed a drug test and consequently will not be able to fight Santiago Ponzinibbio on September 16 in Las Vegas. Rodriguez revealed this on Instagram and declared that he tested positive for ostarine, a banned performance-enhancing drug notorious for tainting supplement cases. As a result, he was ruled out of the competition against Ponzinibbio at T-Mobile Arena for Noche UFC.
In clarifying the situation, Rodriguez highlighted that his positive sample contained an “extremely low level” of the banned PED, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that’s always banned. The 36-year-old fighter emphatically denied knowingly ingesting ostarine, explaining, “I strongly believe that a supplement contaminant is the reason for my low-level positive, and am actively working with my manager, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and the UFC in reviewing and testing the supplements I took prior to my test.”
However, USADA, which oversees the UFC’s anti-doping program, usually confirms positive tests if athletes announce them first. At the time the news was broken, a comment from the agency regarding Rodriguez’s situation could not be obtained immediately. In Rodriguez’s latest appearance in the octagon, he endured a first-round TKO loss to Ian Machado Garry, trailing a stoppage loss to Neil Magny in his prior appearance. His overall octagon tally stand at 7-3.
The entire situation leaves Ponzinibbio’s status for the fall event up in the air, and it is unclear whether he will receive a replacement opponent as of this report. Rodriguez made a full statement to shed further light on the issue, detailing his unwitting ingestion of ostarine, his belief in the cause, and his commitment to cooperating with USADA. He concluded by expressing his eagerness to return to the octagon and assured his fans that he would be more careful about his supplement choices in the future.