UFC heavyweight talent Mohammed Usman has received a lengthy 30-month ban from competing in the promotion following a violation of its anti-doping policy.
Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), the company which oversees UFC’s current drug testing program, announced on Thursday that Usman will be ineligible to compete until 2028 due to a violation of their policy.
CSAD wrote this week that Usman returned positive results “for the presence of testosterone” during an out-of-competition test back in September 2025. After CSAD had collected evidence from the testing, Usman admitted that he had used testosterone before. However, the testing company claimed that Usman provided them with a “false explanation,” hoping to deceive them and receive a shorter sentence.
“If a UFC athlete uses multiple substances like Usman did and engages in deceptive or obstructive conduct to avoid the adjudication of an Anti-Doping Policy Violation like he did, then aggravating circumstances are determined to exist,” they wrote in a press release.
While the standard suspension for a failed drug test is 24 months (two years), the “aggravating circumstances” added an extra six months to the sanction.
Usman won’t be able to compete until April 9, 2028, although he will be able to keep fighting if he is able to exit his current UFC deal. His suspension is the second-longest CSAD has given out since they took control of UFC’s testing program in 2024 (the longest was a 48-month sanction for Walt Harris).
Usman joined the UFC roster in 2022 after winning Season 30 of The Ultimate Fighter. He has won three of his five appearances in the promotion, most recently overcoming Hamdy Abdelwahab in June.
The 36-year-old was scheduled to take on Valter Walker at UFC’s Rio de Janeiro card back in October, but was pulled from the show. We now know that his withdrawal from the lineup came due to his run-in with CSAD.
