Felipe Pena Accepts 1 Year Ban

Although the rumors had been circulating for a month or so, rising black belt star Felipe Pena has accepted a 1 year ban from USADA sanctioned competition for a positive result for testosterone. The result was confirmed by urine analysis conducted as last year’s World Championship had concluded. Felipe beat Andre Galvao by points to win gold in the Heavyweight division. We’ve yet to confirm, however we expect the IBJJF to strip Felipe of that title and last year’s title to Galvao.

In the press release from USADA they indicate that Felipe Pena provided “substantial assistance” and explained that the positive result was caused by his use of a testosterone cream provided to him by a healthcare provider.

The penalty is half that of penalty given to Braulio Estima who also tested positive for a banned substance at the 2014 IBJJF World Championships. The disparity can be attributed to the fact that Braulio was unable to give a definitive reason as to why the substance in question was found in his sample.

Along with Braulio Estima and Gabby Garcia, Felipe Pena becomes the third athlete to test positive for a banned substance since USADA began testing black belts in competition at the Worlds and Pans.

You can read the entire release here: www.usada.org