UFC light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux has been hit with his second doping violation under the USADA program, with a tainted supplement to blame.
Saint Preux (26-17) has been handed a six month sanction as a result of the incident, which saw him test positive for 3α-hydroxy-5α-androst-1-en-17-one (a long-term metabolite of 1-Androstenedione and/or 1-Testosterone) in a pair of drug tests administered on June 17, 2023, and July 11, 2023. Those tests are being collectively addressed as a single incident, as Saint Preux was not made aware of the results of the first test when the second was administered.
USADA officials announced the news in a press release issued on Monday. Per that release, OSP provided a supplement he was using at the time of his positive tests, with USADA able to obtain a sealed container of that same supplement from the same lot number. Analysis at the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah determined that both Saint Preux’s supplement, and the unopened container, were both contaminated with 3α-hydroxy-5α-androst-1-en-17-one.
The substance was not listed on the product’s label. The supplement in question, not directly named in Monday’s release, has now been added to USADA’s High Risk List.
“Although Saint Preux was not using a Certified Supplement, he received a reduction to his period of ineligibility because he was able to prove that his positive test was caused by a contaminated product and the very low levels detected in the products would not have benefited his performance,” USADA officials also noted. “Given that this was his second violation, an increased period of ineligibility from what he received for his first violation was appropriate.”
Saint Preux was suspended for thee months from 2019 to early 2020 after testing positive for Ostarine, also the result of a contaminated supplement.
Now 40, Saint Preux has not fought since a loss to Philipe Lins in February 2023. His suspension is dated retroactively to the date of his first positive drug test on June 17.
