The Nevada State Athletic Commission has temporarily suspended Sean O'Malley due to trace amounts of the prohibited substance ostarine being found in his system. O'Malley
tested positive for the same substance last year and serviced a six month suspension as a result. The undefeated UFC bantamweight was supposed to return to the Octagon next month at UFC 239 and fight Marlon Vera.
O'Malley explained on social media that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the UFC's anti-doping partner, will not be sanctioning him because there is belief that the "extremely low level" of osterine found in his two recent tests stem from the previous ingestion.
"The good news is that USADA says this is most likely residual from last year and that hte low level is providing me with no performance advantage," O'Malley wrote.
"That's why USADA is not-resanctioning me for these test results. I already served a USADA sanction for the presence of Ostarine in my system, and it has decreased dramatically since last year.
"The bad news is that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has temporarily suspended me while they look into the situation," he said, adding that he looks forward to publicly discussing his case before the NSAC
"with scientific experts who can explain why very low levels of Ostarine are showing up in my system."
O'Malley reiterated that he has never
"purposely taken any prohibibted substance to gain an advantage."
O'Malley tested positive for ostarin before his scheduled bout last October at UFC 229. USADA reduced his potential two-year ban to six months because the agency found no evidence of intentional use. An out-of-competition sample taken from O'Malley in December also contained traces of ostarine, but it was determined to be consistent with "ingestion prior" to the initial positive test.
O'Malley's situation is actually very similar to the one Jone Jones is going through with the long-term metabolite of oral Turinabol.