According to Ariel Helwani over at our sister site MMAFighting, Brock Lesnar’s mandatory vacation from mixed martial arts could be shorter than originally thought.
That’s because the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the agency which administered the tests Lesnar, and fellow high-profile fighter Jon Jones, failed, says the fighters are only facing a maximum one-year suspension instead of normal two-year ban.
Both men tested positive for the anti-estrogenic agent Hydroxy-clomiphene, a substance the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) considers a “specified substance”. Under their Code, “there is a greater likelihood that these (specified) substances could be susceptible to a credible non-doping explanation.” Since it is more likely the banned substance could get into the test subject’s body without specific intent, WADA Code allows “a tribunal more flexibility when making a sanctioning decision.”
Helwani points out that the minimum sanction a fighter can receive for a “specified substance” is a public warning, so it remains possible Brock might not even be suspended at all.
And if a ban is handed down from USADA, fighters have the option of appealing to a third-party arbiter or panel of arbitrators, so even if Lesnar receives the maximum one-year ban, we could have a long way to go before his UFC fate is sealed.
Maybe the Beast’s claim he could return to the Octagon one day isn’t so far fetched. Or maybe his $500 kayfabe fine from Stephanie McMahon will look severe in comparison to what the USADA ends up deciding.
Stay tuned.