UFC welterweight Josh Quinlan was pulled from his UFC Fight Night bout Saturday due to an atypical drug finding, the UFC announced.
USADA, the UFC's anti-doping partner, detected a trace amount of the long-term metabolite (or M3 metabolite) of the steroid dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) in a Quinlan urine sample, the promotion said. The amount in Quinlan's system did not result in a UFC anti-doping violation.
However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has removed Quinlan from his scheduled fight Saturday in Las Vegas, pending a hearing to further look at the situation. This has been a common procedure for the NSAC with regard to fighters who have had the M3 metabolite of DHCMT found in their system, including former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
In January 2021, the UFC and its anti-doping partner USADA changed its policy on DHCMT, issuing violations only for fighters who have more than 100 pg/ml in their system. The reasoning is that the long-term metabolite does not indicate there are any active steroids in the fighter's system, and it's impossible to know exactly when the banned substance might have been ingested, perhaps even before a fighter's UFC career began. The NSAC has not yet changed its policy on the matter.
Quinlan was suspended for nine months by the NSAC after testing positive for the steroid drostanolone in connection to his Dana White's Contender Series bout against Logan Urban last September. Quinlan's win, a first-round TKO, was overturned to a no contest due to the positive test.
Quinlan (5-0, 1 NC), a 29-year-old fighting out of Nevada, had three straight finishes in the LFA promotion before getting a shot on Contender Series. He was scheduled to fight Jason Witt on Saturday night.