UFC veteran Cortney Casey has been handed an abbreviated sanction by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after self-reporting a violation of the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy.
Casey (10-10), who has competed as both a flyweight and strawweight over the years, has accepted a four-month suspension for use of a prohibited substance, BPC-157, which she reported to the UFC on June 21, 2023.
“Cast Iron” had been prescribed the substance by a physician to treat an unspecified medical condition. However, BPC-157, a peptide, falls under the class of Non-Approved Substances and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.
USADA officials announced Casey’s situation in a press release issued Thursday.
BPC-157 is a synthetic peptide believed to have some gastrointestinal benefits, and is not a steroid, but was banned by WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) in 2022, due to a lack of sufficient human trials/study of the substance.
Per Thursday’s press release, “Casey immediately provided documentation confirming that she was prescribed and provided BPC-157 by a doctor to help treat a medical condition. After using the substance for a short period of time, she learned that BPC-157 is a prohibited substance and came forward about her use to the UFC. A Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) was not applicable to this Non-Approved Substance. Casey was eligible for a reduction to the period of ineligibility based on her forthright declaration and for her Full and Complete Cooperation.”
Casey’s suspension is backdated to June 1, 2023, the approximate date of her last using the substance. The 36-year old has not fought since a July 2022 split decision loss against Antonina Shevchenko.
