Marc-Andre Barriault settles ostarine positive test with NAC, USADA

UFC middleweight Marc-Andre Barriault has settled his business with the USADA, but a Nevada Athletic Commission suspension is going to keep him out of action for a few more months.

The NAC announced at a meeting Wednesday that Barriault has been handed a nine-month suspension after he tested positive for ostarine in connection to a June 20 bout in Las Vegas against Oskar Piechota. He will be ineligible to compete until March of next year and his win over Piechota was overturned to a no-contest. Barriault was also fined $2,100.

On Friday, the USADA announced that Barriault, 30, had already served a six-month suspension under their guidelines for the same failed test. Per the release, the USADA found no evidence of intentional use. Barriault’s six-month period of ineligibility is consistent with low-level ostarine cases with evidence of contamination.

Ostarine is an anabolic agent that is prohibited year-round under USADA guidelines. Barriault denied knowingly using any banned substances when the failed test was first reported in August.

“I was notified last week that an in-competition sample that I provided to the NSAC the night of my last fight on June 20th, 2020 was positive for an extremely low level (approximately 190 picograms or 190 parts per trillion) of the prohibited substance, Ostarine,” Barriault said in a statement released to Yahoo! Sports at the time. “First and foremost, I want to make things crystal clear, I did not intentionally use Ostarine, nor have I ever knowingly used any prohibited substance in my career. Since the beginning of my professional career, I have been tested three times by the Quebec athletic commission, and a total of seven times under the UFC/USADA program and have always tested negative.

“Since I found out about this last week, I have learned quite a bit about Ostarine, specifically that it is commonly found as a low-level contaminant in certain dietary supplements, often at levels that provide absolutely no performance enhancing benefit. I strongly believe that a supplement contaminant is the reason for my low-level positive, and I am actively working with the UFC on reviewing and testing supplements that I have used prior to my June 20th fight, in the hope of identifying the culprit.

“While I am extremely disappointed in this development, I am looking forward to finding a definitive explanation for my low-level positive test, to fully cooperating with the NSAC and to getting back to work in the Octagon soon.”

With his win overturned, Barriault (11-4, 1 NC) remains without an official UFC victory on his record in four tries.