Sports

Why Roman Dolidze Suspended Before Making Debut

A UFC new entrant to the Octagon ring, Roman Dolidze will now have to wait for at least 7 more months for his first UFC bout, due to a failed doping test. According to the latest UFC News updates, the officials of the USADA (United States of America Doping Agency) had announced their decision in order to make it clear for the other athletes that it still complies with the standards and norms of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA). Roman will now be serving a one year ban period, for violating the UFC’s Anti-doping Policy and the ban period has been made effective from the day his sample was taken by the Anti Doping officials, that is 12 March 2019.

It is interesting to note that Roman Dolidze missed his debut for the third time this year. He was earlier scheduled to make his debut in the octagon ring at UFC Fight Night 149 in April, against Gadzhimurad Antigulov. However, he withdrew from the match when he was least expected to do so. Again, he was later scheduled to make his debut against Vinicius Moreira in June. But he withdrew from the fight again, for undisclosed reasons. Although these were unexpected withdrawals, it is still not clear of the Doping Test play a role in any of these withdrawals.

According to the USADA officials, “Dolidze, 31, tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolites M1 and M2, as well as a long-term metabolite of dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT), 4-chloro-18-nor-17β-hydroxymethyl,17α-methyl-5α-androst-13-en-3α-ol (M3), as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample collected on March 12, 2019.” It is a notable fact that Clomiphene is a Specified Substance in the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators, while DHCMT is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents. Both substances are prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which uses the standards adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Roman, who is an unbeaten professional in the past 6 matches, will now be able to make his debut only after 12 March 2020. His last bout was against One Championship veteran Michal Pasternak, who lost the match to Roman by a Knock-Out.