UFC heavyweight Walt Harris accepted a four-month ban for a violating the UFC Anti-Doping Policy from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Harris tested positive for LGD-4033, a prohibited substance, following his fight with Andrei Arlovski at UFC 232.
The fighter’s test results showed that he took contaminated dietary supplement ahead of his fight with Arlovski. Walt Harris cooperated with the agency but the supplement contained traces of LGD-4033.
Via USADA:
“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 win over Arlovski was eventually overturned to a No Contest once the result for Harris’ in-competition drug test came back positive for the prohibited substance.
Since this sanction was handed from the Harris’ test date, Harris will be eligible to return by May 2019.
Walt Harris was originally scheduled to face Aleksei Oleinik in his return, but the latter was pulled from the fight to fill in as the replacement opponent for Alistair Overeem at UFC St. Petersburg in April.
So far Harris has not spoken about the sanction.
