Hamdy Abdelwahab, the Egyptian heavyweight who joined the ranks of the UFC last year, will not be competing for some time.
In a press release distributed Friday, USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) officials announced that Abdelwahab (5-0, 1NC) had accepted a two-year sanction following a pair of failed drug test both in and out of competition.
In tests administered on July 30, 2022 and August 27, 2022, Abdelwahab tested positive for methenolone (metenolone), an anabolic agent, and its metabolite (3α-hydroxy-1-methylene-5α-andostan-17-one). The substance is banned at all times under the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy, administered by USADA.
As the heavyweight was not notified of the results of his first test when the second sample was collected, the failures are treated as a single incident.
Upon entering the UFC, all athletes are required to declare the use of banned substances. Failure to do so without compelling justification constitutes tampering under the UFC ADP. Per USADA’s press release Friday, “Abdelwahab did not declare the use of methenolone on his onboarding declaration forms and did not establish a compelling justification for his failure to do so. Based on USADA’s investigation, it was determined that Abdelwahab used the prohibited substance and knew of his obligation to declare it. The evidence constitutes a tampering violation in addition to the violation for his positive test for methenolone.”
Hamdy Abdelwahab’s win against Don’Tale Mayes has been overturned to a No Contest by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, who oversaw the pair’s fight at UFC 277 on July 30, 2022. The heavyweight’s suspension is backdated to that date, which represented his first positive test.
