Nevada Athletic Commission Suspends 3 UFC-Hopefuls after Contender Series Drug Tests

Two of the fighters suffered losses on DWCS while the third failed to enter the cage.

(Ken Hathaway/MMA Junkie)

The Nevada Athletic Commission has handed out suspensions to several fighters from this year’s season of Dana White’s Contender Series.

NAC Suspends 3 DWCS Fighters

After first debuting in 2017, Dana White’s Contender Series completed its eighth season this year and has produced UFC champions such as Jamahal Hill and Sean O’Malley in addition to plenty of other successful fighters throughout the promotion’s various weight classes.

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Season 8 of DWCS featured the show’s usual 10-week run of events from August to October, and while plenty of fighters earned big wins to secure UFC contracts during that period several of the losing fighters have now been suspended by the NAC for failed drug tests.

Per the NAC’s monthly meeting that took place earlier this week (h/t MMA Junkie), light heavyweight Francesco Mazzeo and middleweight Abdellah Er-Ramy were both hit with suspensions following their respective losses on DWCS, while welterweight Quemuel Ottoni has had his temporary suspension extended to January.

Kevin Christian of Brazil punches Francesco Mazzeo of Italy in a light heavyweight fight during Dana White's Contender Series Season Eight, Week Seven at UFC APEX. / (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Cage Warriors-veteran Mazzeo entered his DWCS opportunity on September 12 with a perfect 4-0 record but was submitted by Kevin Christian in the second round, and after both his A and B samples tested positive for GW1516 and GW1516 metabolites the 27-year-old was fined by the NAC and will be eligible to return to competition on June 23, 2025.

Nicknamed “The Golden Boy”, Er-Ramy was also stopped on DWCS on October 1 when Torrez Finney defeated him via strikes in the opening round, and he also received a fine and nine-month suspension that ends on June 30, 2025 after testing positive for drostanolone and drostanolone metabolites.

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Torrez Finney reacts after defeating Abdellah Er-Ramy of Morocco in their middleweight fight during Dana White's Contender Series Season Eight, Week Eight event at UFC APEX. / (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Ottoni famously submitted Alex Pereira in the UFC champion’s MMA debut back in 2015 and was scheduled to fight Kody Steele on DWCS on September 10 but withdrew from the bout mid-card, and the 32-year-old is now suspended until January while the NAC attempts to “re-establish contact” with him regarding a positive test for Clomiphene.

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