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Wednesday, October 04, 2006
 
Mixed Martial Arts--- Extension Granted in Stephan Bonnar's Steroids Case
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

With the September 26th deadline for a formal response having come and gone, Stephan Bonnar and his attorneys have been given an extension to formally respond to the Nevada State Athletic Commission's complaint regarding a positive test for anabolic steroids.

Bonnar lost to Forrest Griffin by unanimous decision at UFC 62 on August 26th, and a formal complaint was filed on September 6th in which the NSAC notified Bonnar that his post-fight urinalysis came up positive for Boldenone, which is a banned anabolic steroid that is intended for use only by veterinarians, primarily to help rehabilitate injured horses.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission initially gave Bonnar and his attorneys 20 days from the date of the complaint to issue a formal response, but Bonnar's attorneys met with the NSAC shortly before the deadline and were granted an extension. Bonnar and his attorneys now have until this coming Wednesday, October 4th, to formally respond to the charges.

After Bonnar's side has issued its formal response, the NSAC will set the date for a disciplinary hearing, at which Bonnar could be fined and/or suspended. As previously reported, the amount of the fine can be up to $250,000, or the complete amount of the fighter's purse for the event, whichever amount is greater. In this case, Bonnar's purse for the August 26th fight was $16,000, so the maximum possible fine is $250,000.

The length of the suspension can be whatever the NSAC deems appropriate, but the suspensions have generally ranged from three to twelve months in past instances of mixed martial artists and boxers testing positive for banned substances.

In Bonnar's case, it's unlikely that he would have fought again this year even if he hadn't tested positive for a banned substance at UFC 62, due to the fact that he had already been medically suspended for six months as a result of a broken right thumb suffered during the fight against Griffin.

A total of eighteen fighters competed on the UFC 62 card on August 26th, and four of those eighteen fighters were drug tested by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is not an atypical amount for a UFC event held in the state of Nevada.

MMAWeekly will continue to keep you updated on any further developments in this story.

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