Brazilian jiu-jitsu star and rising MMA fighter Renato Canuto has been suspended six months as a result of a failed drug test.
The Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Canuto (3-0) six months during a monthly meeting Wednesday. A urinalysis had detected the presence of modafinil, a prohibited stimulant, in his drug test surrounding a sub-two-minute TKO win March 13 over Dylan Aparis at Tuff-N-Uff 152. The bout’s result is now a no contest.
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Canuto will be eligible to return Sept. 13 and will have to pay a $780 fine plus $250 in prosecution fees in the meantime.
The NAC had revealed previously Aparis (2-3) also tested positive for prohibited testosterone metabolites. Aparis was suspended nine months and fined by the commission at a prior meeting.
Prior to the commission’s revelation of the failed drug tests in April, Canuto had announced the flagging himself on Instagram in a lengthy statement. He denied knowingly taking any performance-enhancing substance.
Canuto, 29, is a highly decorated grappler with tournament wins ranging from IBJJF to KASAI to UAEJJF to Marianas Open. He most recently had been competing for UFC BJJ, for which he’d gone 1-1.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: BJJ star Renato Canuto suspended for failed MMA drug test
