Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight Walt Harris has accepted a sanction under the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Back in Dec. 2018, Harris took on Andrei Arlovski at UFC 232 in Las Vegas. “The Big Ticket” was initially awarded a split decision win. News broke that Harris was flagged for LGD4033, which is in the same family as selective androgen receptor modules (SARMs). Harris provided the supplements in question and while USADA did determine that they were tainted, Harris’ win has been overturned.
Walt Harris Accepts Four-Month USADA Sanction
USADA released a statement confirming that Harris accepted a four-month suspension:
“USADA announced today that Walt Harris, of Homewood, Ala., has accepted a four-month sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for a prohibited substance from a contaminated supplement.
Harris, 35, tested positive for LGD-4033 as the result of an in-competition urine sample he provided on December 29, 2018 that was collected by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) at UFC 232 in Inglewood, Calif. LGD-4033 is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy (UFC ADP), which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
Following notification of his positive test, Harris provided USADA with information about a dietary supplement product he was using before and at the time of the relevant sample collection. Although no prohibited substances were listed on the supplement label, analysis conducted on both the open and independently sourced, unopened containers of the product by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, indicated that the product contained LGD-4033.
The presence of an undisclosed prohibited substance in a product is regarded as contamination. Accordingly, the product has since been added to the list of high-risk supplements maintained on USADA’s online dietary supplement safety education and awareness resource – Supplement 411 (www.Supplement411.org).”
The sanction is retroactive to Harris’ last bout, so he will be eligible to compete again on April 29.
