Former UFC middleweight/light heavyweight and current pro fight league PFL heavyweight Alex Nicholson has been suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a term of 4 years stemming from his in-competition testing for his bout(s) on October 31st.
There were three banned substances that showed up in tests. The steroids found were Nandrolone, Drostanolone and Trenbolone. According to the NSAC Nicholson never responded to the complaint, and as of this moment attempted hasn’t attempted to defend himself.
The UFC veteran and PFL veteran had never once in his career been flagged by any regulatory authority for doping. The 4-year term which is way out of line for a first offense by any standard is probably due to the fact that there were 3 substances in his system at the same time.
I reached out to Nicholson for his comments on his current situation and this is what he had to say.
- “Never have, or would I take a banned substance. And after years and years of competing and being tested why would it even make sense for me to show up knowing how everything goes down after years of commitment and get everything taken from me? It just doesn’t make sense either way you look at it.”
While Nicholson has not responded personally to the commission, he also let me know that his team of lawyers are working on this, plus looking into the fact that he was denied the ability to fight a second time on Halloween night even though two doctors cleared him to go, the commission didn’t let him fight. Nicholson feels there’s more to this story based on these 2 incidents. He stands by his statement of fighting as a clean athlete and vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
As a result of the test and lack of cooperation, Nicholson was suspended 4 years by the NAC and fined 60 percent of his fight night purse ($15,000). An additional fine equaling $363.40 was added on, to pay for the commission’s legal fees.
The maximum sanction for a first-time offender, according to the NAC is 2 years and a 30% fine. However, the NAC decided that Nicholson committed multiple anti-doping offenses and therefore his penalty falls under the umbrella of “aggravating circumstances.”
The seldomly used application of the “aggravated circumstances designation” allows for up to, but not more than twice the maximum suspension and/or fine for an offense.
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.