Sean O’Malley could be back in action in the first quarter of 2019.
On Wednesday, the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to give the 24-year-old fighter a reduced retroactice suspension of six months retroactive for a potential United States Anti-Doping violation that O’Malley initially announced himself via social media. It was agreed upon that O’Malley “[took] responsibility for the adverse analytical findings.”
According to that ruling, O’Malley will be eligible to compete again on March 6, 2019; however, he could still face a maximum suspension of two years from USADA.
O’Malley was also ordered to pay $472.42 in legal fees.
It was O’Malley who broke the news that he was under investigation, following the UFC recently changing its policy in regards to the public disclosure of potential violations. Unlike in the past, flagged athletes will only be identified after the conclusion of the adjudication process.
Soon after the news surfaced, O’Malley told ESPN that he tested positive for a low dose of ostarine, a performance-enhancing drug. He added that he believed the banned substance entered his system via a tainted supplement.
O’Malley, 24, is 10-0 in his MMA career so far with two of those wins coming inside of the Octagon. After earning a Dana White’s Tuesday Contender’s Series contract in July of last year with a first-round knockout of Alfred Khashakyan, “Sugar” went on to pick up a pair of unanimous decision wins over Terrion Ware and Andre Soukhamthath.
His next bout was to be in Las Vegas against Jose Quinonez at UFC 229 in October, but that fight was canceled as a result of O’Malley’s positive test.