UFC Lightweight Felipe Olivieri Suspended 2 Years Following USADA Arbitration Case

One-time UFC competitor Felipe Olivieri has been suspended for two years for an anti-doping violation, USADA announced Wednesday.

Independent arbitrator McLaren Global Sports Solutions handled Olivieri’s case after the lightweight failed an out-of-competition urine test on Jan. 11, 2016. The 31-year-old Rio de Janeiro native tested positive for methyltestosterone metabolites, an anabolic agent that is prohibited at all times according to the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy.

“If an athlete exercises his or her right to contest the imposition of the standard sanction, as Olivieri did, that case must be heard by independent arbitrators, per the UFC Anti-Doping Policy,” the statement read. “Olivieri contested the asserted doping offense by arguing that the laboratory results for his urine sample should be disregarded based on alleged breaches of the chain of custody and an alleged lack of competency by the testing laboratory. In rejecting the athlete’s claims, the Arbitrator concluded that Olivieri failed to establish that the sample chain of custody and analysis, which was conducted by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Rio de Janeiro, had been compromised.

“Because Olivieri did not present any mitigating evidence with respect to his level of fault during the appeal process, the Arbitrator imposed the standard period of ineligibility for Olivieri’s doping offense.”

Olivieiri’s two-year sanction is retroactive to March 10, 2016, when his provisional suspension began. He will be eligible to return in March 2018. The arbitration case can be viewed in its entirety here.

Olivieri made his Octagon debut at UFC on Fox 18, where he was submitted by Tony Martin 3:02 into the third stanza of their bout. The Nova Uniao product owns a career 14-5 professional mark.