Alexandre Nogueira tests positive for steroids

WEC featherweight Alexandre "Pequeno" Nogueira has been handed a one-year suspension and a $2,500 fine for a failed drug test.

Nogueira tested positive for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid, at WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver on June 1 in Sacramento, the California State Athletic Commission said Monday. Two samples were tested separately at Quest Diagnostics and the WADA-certified Laboratoire de controle du dopage in Quebec, Canada.

Nogueira, who held the Shooto 143-lb. championship from September 1999 to May 2006, joined the American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida earlier this year to prepare for his first fight in America at WEC 34. The 30-year-old Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt ended up losing to Jose Aldo via TKO at 3:22 of the second round.

Nogueira's suspension will run through May 31, 2009.