Another UFC Title Challenger Just Got Popped For Controversial Performance Enhancer

The latest in MMA cheats has been uncovered, and it’s a big one.

UFC 174 title challenger, Ali Bagautinov has failed his post-fight drug test for EPO and as a result will serve out a twelve-month suspension.

This news comes on the heels of several disappointing test failures, including that of Chael Sonnen, who also failed for the very controversial performance enhancer, just like the flyweight russian.

MMAJunkie.com was the first to report the news, and they break it down:

“Results received by this office from the June 2 tests on Mr. Bagautinov were positive for erythropoietin, or EPO – a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency,” BCAC Commissioner Dave Maedel stated. “These results were not available prior to the UFC 174 event due to lab processing times. Mr. Bagautinov lost his bid for the flyweight title to Demetrious Johnson. I have suspended Mr. Bagautinov’s licence to compete in British Columbia for a period of one year.”

EPO is a hormone that controls the production of red blood cells. In sports as a performance enhancer, it is perhaps best known in the world of professional cycling, where it became best associated with Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner who was found to have used EPO as part of a doping “cocktail.” He eventually was stripped of his titles and had his name removed from the race’s record books.