The latest fighter to run afoul of USADA is Michel Prazeres, who has been handed down a two-year ban from competition after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.
USADA continues to test UFC athletes, and they continue to test positive for banned substances. On Tuesday, the anti-doping outfit announced via press release that Brazil’s Michel Prazeres, 38, was the latest mixed martial artist accepting a lengthy suspension from the sport.
Prazeres (26-3), a welterweight and former lightweight with the UFC since 2013, tested positive for “exogenous boldenone and its metabolite 5β-androst-1-en-17β-ol-3-one as the result of two out-of-competition urine samples he provided on March 9, 2019.”
Boldenone is an anabolic agent banned at all times under the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy.
As a result of his infraction, Prazeres has been handed a two-year ban, back-dated to the date of his positive test a little under a year ago. When he returns, he’ll be pushing forty.
‘Tractor’ had run up an eight-fight win streak in recent years, including wins over Gilbert Burns, Zak Cummings, and Des Green. That streak was snapped in his most recent outing, a February 2019 loss to Ismail Naurdiev. Prazeres’ biggest struggles, however, had come at the scale, as he missed weight three times in four straight bouts at lightweight, before moving back up to 170lbs.
