Jim Wallhead didn’t have the book thrown at him entirely by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight was flagged by USADA on Oct. 7. Wallhead was going to fight Warlley Alves on the UFC Fight Night 118 card, but was pulled. It has been determined that Wallhead’s positive test stemmed from tainted supplements.
As a result, Wallhead has accepted a lighter nine-month sanction. You can see part of USADA’s statement below:
“USADA announced today that UFC® athlete Jim Wallhead, of Loughborough, United Kingdom, accepted a nine-month sanction after testing positive for a prohibited substance from a contaminated supplement.
Wallhead, 33, tested positive for ostarine and its metabolite following an out-of-competition test conducted on October 7, 2017. Ostarine is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.
Ostarine, also known as MK-2866 and Enobosarm, is a non-FDA approved selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that is illegally sold worldwide as a performance-enhancing substance. Ostarine is not currently available as a prescription medication in any country, and its unauthorized use may carry serious side effects.
Nonetheless, ostarine has been found as a declared and undeclared ingredient in many dietary supplements, which has prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warning letters to specific dietary supplement manufacturers stating that ostarine is an unapproved new drug and that selling the drug is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. More information about the risks of ostarine can be found through a USADA athlete advisory.”
