Colorado Springs native Raquel Pennington has accepted a six-month sanction for a violation of Ultimate Fighting Championship anti-doping policy.
In an announcement on Thursday morning, the locally based U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Pennington self-reported the use of prohibited substances 7-keto-DHEA and AOD-9064.
Pennington’s period of ineligibility will begin from Nov. 17, 2020, the date she reported the violation.
“I went to my physician about a medical condition I was experiencing and was prescribed several medications to treat the condition,” Pennington said in a statement released prior to USADA’s announcement. “Unfortunately, I took the medications for a brief period of time, before realizing I should have checked on their status under the program. I soon discovered that these medications may be prohibited, so I immediately stopped taking the medication and contacted the UFC to report this potential issue.”
USADA’s statement confirms Pennington’s explanation of the events.
The drug 7-keto-DHEA is classified as an anabolic agent, while AOD-9064 is in the class of peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances and mimetics.
Pennington, 32, is ranked fourth among contenders in UFC’s women’s bantamweight division. She last fought in June, defeating Marion Reneau in a unanimous decision. The Harrison graduate, who has remained based in Colorado Springs during her career, headlined UFC 224 in May 2018 as she lost in a technical knockout to Amanda Nunes in a title bout.
In releasing the details of the violation prior to USADA’s announcement, Pennington apologized to her fans and aimed to set a positive example.
“I hope that I can serve as a role model in showing that we all make mistakes, but it is what you do after realizing those mistakes that define your true character,” Pennington said. “I believe that my actions shown in these events show everyone what I am made of, and while I regret making this mistake, I am proud of how I handled this and hope that you are of me as well.”
Raquel Pennington’s statement
I wanted you to hear this from me first. This morning, USADA will be announcing a violation I committed of the UFC anti-doping policy. Here are the facts. I went to my physician about a medical condition I was experiencing and was prescribed several medications to treat the condition. Unfortunately, I took the medications for a brief period of time, before realizing I should have checked on their status under the program. I soon discovered that these medications may be prohibited, so I immediately stopped taking the medication and contacted the UFC to report this potential issue. I want to make it very clear that there was nothing that forced me to report this to UFC, and ultimately USADA. No one knew about this except myself and my physician and USADA had not collected a sample from me since I started the medications. This was simply me realizing a potential mistake and wanting to do the right thing. As USADA’s forthcoming statement will show, I fully cooperated with them and provided them with 100% honestly. I was not trying to cheat, skirt the rules or trying to gain a performance advantage. I was simply trying to treat a medical condition and made the mistake or not timely checking the status of these medications. I want to apologize to all of my fans and publicly make the commitment that I will be much more careful in the future and not let this happen again. I hope that I can serve as a role model in showing that we all make mistakes, but it is what you do after realizing those mistakes that define your true character. I believe that my actions shown in these events show everyone what I am made of, and while I regret making this mistake, I am proud of how I handled this and hope that you are of me as well. Thank you for your understanding and your support.
