UFC’s Jennifer Maia accepts suspension in ‘tainted supplement’ case

Current UFC star and former Invicta flyweight champion Jennifer Maia has today accepted a six-month suspension for violating doping rules.

USADA, which administers the UFC’s drug-testing program, confirmed in a press release that the 30-year-old had accepted the sanction after testing positive for banned diuretics that came from a “contaminated dietary supplement”.

Banned diuretics

According to a press release issued by the organisation, the Brazilian, who has a career record of 15-5-1, failed the August 16, 2018 test due to the presence of furosemide, hydrochlorothiazide, chlorothiazide, and the thiazide metabolite 4-amino-6-chloro-1,3-benzenedisulfonamide (ACB) in her system. These are categorised as diuretics and masking agents, and are banned by the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which follows the WADA rules on prohibited substances.

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The anti-doping body went on to state that its investigation revealed that both opened and sealed containers of a supplement the athlete was using at the time of her out-of-competition sample collection contained the substances despite not being labelled as such.

Reduced suspension

Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which follows the World Anti-Doping Code, athletes that are found to have tested positive as a result of tainted products may result in a reduced sanction. With strict liability applying, USADA ultimately decided to issue a shortened six-month suspension, dated to Maia’s August 31 provisional suspension.

Earlier today, the 125-pounder took to social media to reiterate the fact that she had unknowingly ingested the prohibited substance, and promise her fans that she “look[s] forward to being back in the cage very soon to fight for my fans”.

In her last outing, her UFC debut, Maia dropped a unanimous decision to veteran Liz Carmouche. Prior to that contest, the Chute Box product had amassed a six-fight winning streak, defending the Invicta featherweight championship twice.