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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff Writer
Daniel Rodriguez has withdrawn from a scheduled bout with Santiago Ponzinibbio at Noche UFC on Sept. 16 in Las Vegas due to an atypical finding in a USADA drug test, he announced Thursday night on Instagram.
Rodriguez wrote that he tested positive in an out-of-competition test for the banned substance ostarine, but added that he did not intentionally take the substance and believes it might have come from a contaminated dietary supplement. USADA only suspends athletes for ostarine if the level is above 1 nanogram per milliliter and they are not able to show a probability that the presence of the substance derived from a tainted supplement.
A request for comment to USADA was not immediately returned to ESPN. Rodriguez, 36, said he must pull out of the fight while his situation is being investigated. He will also likely need to have a hearing in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to compete in Las Vegas in the future.
“While I am extremely disappointed in this development and am now unable to fight on September 16th, I am looking forward to finding a definitive explanation for my low-level positive test and am ready to fully cooperate with the USADA,” Rodriguez wrote.
No replacement for Rodriguez has been named yet. Noche UFC is the UFC’s first event celebrating Mexican Independence Day and Rodriguez is a popular Mexican-American fighter born in California. Rodriguez (17-4) would have bene trying to snap a two-fight losing streak against Ponzinibbio.