Frank Mir reveals 'B' sample in USADA drug test came back positive

Frank Mir may be running out of options.

The former UFC heavyweight is presently caught in limbo after testing positive in an in-competition drug test conducted by USADA in March. On Friday, Mir revealed that the results of his ‘B' sample were tested as well, and they too came back positive.

"I went through the process just to see if maybe something happened with testing procedure," Mir said on his Phone Booth Fighting podcast. "But they re-tested the ‘B' sample and it came back with the same results, as far as having trace metabolites."

Mir, 36, tested positive for oral turinabol metabolites in an USADA drug test stemming from Mir's fight on March 19 against Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 85 in Brisbane, Australia, which Mir lost via first-round knockout. Oral turinabol is commonly classified as an anabolic steroid.

Mir has denied knowingly taking the drug since the results of the test were first announced. He stated on Friday that he expected his ‘B' sample to come back with the same results as his ‘A' sample, but reiterated his frustration in not knowing how the substance found its way into his system.

Mir questioned in April if his positive test could be the result of tainted kangaroo meat he consumed in Australia. He broached the topic again on Friday, pointing to the recent case of Houston Texans offensive lineman Duane Brown, who recently tested positive for a banned substance as the result of tainted beef he consumed in Mexico.

Mir said research has shown him that the kangaroo meat industry is not regulated in the same way as others in Australia, but doesn't believe he has the resources to be able to explore the idea any further by himself.

"Giving the animals [drugs] is not really unheard of, especially that -- turinabol is extremely popular in Australia," Mir said. "So to give it to the animals to bulk them up, that way you make more money when it comes to bring that animal in to be butchered. It sounds awful, but I'm listening to it, trying to go back, trying to figure that out.

"As somebody that doesn't have access to the laboratories that the NFL has access to, and I don't want [a failed test] to happen to anybody else, but it's basically going to be a situation where it has to occur to a few other guys and then maybe something will be spotted. But right now, me being the lone guy that came out of the card with that situation to happen with metabolites, I don't see a situation where they are going to really look into any further, and where would I even begin to try to figure it out."

Mir (18-11) is facing a two-year suspension from USADA once the case reaches its conclusion. He is resigned to the fact that he will likely have to retire if it comes to that, bringing an end to the career of one of the UFC's greatest heavyweights.

While Mir was not surprised to learn that his ‘B' sample came back positive, he did wonder if the 'B' sample process itself was flawed.

"My only kind of thought to that, and if someone wants to maybe write us and correct me, but obviously part of the procedure was that I had the right to be there in person where it was tested at," Mir said. "I asked for it to be sent a different lab, and that's not the case. It gets tested at the same lab. Since I couldn't be there, they appointed one of the other lab techs as my representative.

"But here's my thought on that: you and I work for a lab, you do a test on a guy and let's say you messed up, that somehow it came back the wrong test. Now I'm your co-worker and I'm going to run the test on the same thing. It came out of our lab, we work for the same company - this lab - even if I found that you made an error, am I really going to go ahead and go, ‘oh man, hey, you know that guy you just got suspended for two years and might have ended his career? You screwed up. Our whole lab messed up. Oh my God, yeah, let's go ahead and let's bring that to light real quick.'

"I would think having a test at the same lab is a conflict of interest."