Augusto Mendes was one of four fighters issued six-month suspensions by the United States Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday in cases of contaminated supplements. The problem is, he was originally flagged 13 months ago.
“Tanquinho” tested positive for performance-enhancing drug ostarine in March 2018, a month before a planned UFC bout with Merab Dvalishvili, and “didn’t expect the process to take so long”. Over the last 13 months, the jiu-jitsu star says he spent more than $20,000 between lawyers and testing to be able to prove his wasn’t guilty.
”I sent every supplement I was using to my lawyer, more than 20 supplements, and it’s an expensive process that is paid by the athlete, not by USADA,” Mendes told MMA Fighting.