Thibault Gouti suspended six months by USADA after using illegal supplement

UFC lightweight Thibault Gouti will have to wait until late 2019 to make his return to action after he was suspended for six months after failing an out of competition drug test.

On Tuesday, USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) revealed that Gouti failed a drug test administered on March 12 as a result of taking an illegal supplement that was also tainted with multiple banned substances.

“Gouti, 32, tested positive for ostarine, LGD-4033 and its metabolite di-hydroxy-LGD-4033, and GW1516 metabolites GW1516 sulfoxide and GW1516 sulfone as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on March 12, 2019,” USADA officials wrote in the statement. “LGD-4033 and ostarine are non-Specified Substances in the class of Anabolic Agents, while GW1516 is a non-Specified Substance in the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators. All of these substances are prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

“Following notification of his positive test, Gouti provided USADA with information about a dietary supplement product he used for two days before returning it to the store when he realized that ostarine was listed on the label. Subsequent analysis conducted on both the open and independently sourced, unopened containers of the product by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, indicated that the product also contained LGD-4033 and GW1516, which were not listed on the label.”

USADA subsequently added that supplement to the list of high-risk products for athletes to avoid.

Because Gouti was transparent with his mistake using the supplement that contained a banned substance and forthcoming with information to help USADA sort out the failed drug test, he was offered a reduced six-month suspension.

His suspension was made retroactive to April 25, which was the date when he was first provisionally sanctioned for the infraction of the UFC’s anti-doping policy. That means Gouti will be eligible to return to action after Oct. 25.

Gouti is currently sporting a 1-5 record in the UFC with two straight losses inside the Octagon. He last competed in Oct. 2018, which means his return won’t come until after Gouti has already been sidelined for more than a year.