Cynthia Calvillo has been flagged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for a potential violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.
The organization announced Wednesday night the rising UFC strawweight contender tested positive for a marijuana metabolite (Carboxy-Tetrahydrocannabinol aka “Carboxy-THC”) stemming from an in-competition drug screening collected at UFC 219, which took place Dec. 30 in Las Vegas.
“USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Calvillo, as it relates to the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and future UFC participation,” a statement released by the UFC read. “Because the Nevada Athletic Commission was the regulatory body overseeing the fight in Las Vegas and has licensing jurisdiction over Calvillo, USADA will work to ensure that the Nevada Athletic Commission has the necessary information to determine its proper judgment of Calvillo’s potential anti-doping violation. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.”
Calvillo lost a tightly contested unanimous decision to former champion Carla Esparza at UFC 219, the first professional loss of her mixed martial arts career. Prior to that event the 30-year-old Team Alpha Male fighter had gone 3-0 in the UFC in 2017 with wins over Pearl Gonzalez, Amanda Cooper and Joanne Calderwood.
Marijuana is not considered a banned substance out of competition and even during in-competition drug screenings an athlete can have some marijuana in their system as long as it is not above 180 ng/mL. Calvillo had more than the allowed limit in her system during her in-competition test resulting in the failure.
USADA defines in-competition drug screenings as “the period commencing 12 hours before a competition in which the athlete is scheduled to participate through the end of the competition and the sample collection process related to the competition.”
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