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PFL fighter and UFC veteran Don Madge recently announced his retirement from fighting, but it turns out he wasn’t going to be competing again for a long while anyways.
On Monday, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced that Madge received a two-year suspension after testing positive for a banned substance as part of the PFL’s doping policy.
“Madge, 34, tested positive for an anabolic agent as the result of an in-competition sample collected at PFL 6 on June 28, 2024,” USADA officials wrote in a press release. “His urine sample was analyzed using a specialized test called IRMS (Isotope ratio mass spectrometry) that differentiates between anabolic androgenic steroids naturally produced by the body and prohibited anabolic agents of external origin. The IRMS analysis results are consistent with the exogenous origin of testosterone and its metabolites.
“Madge’s two-year period of ineligibility began on June 28, 2024, the date his positive sample was collected but has been tolled since Madge retired on Sept. 20, 2024.”
By all accounts, Madge’s career is over with him hanging up his gloves in retirement, but if he decided to compete again, he would have to serve out the remainder of his two-year sentence for the doping violation.
A 17-fight veteran, Madge went 2-0 in the UFC before he left the organization and ended up signing with the PFL where he amassed a 2-2 resume over four fights. Most recently, Madge suffered a unanimous decision loss to Neiman Gracie back in June, which was the matchup where the sample was collected that ultimately earned him the two-year suspension.
Assuming he doesn’t compete again, Madge retires with an 11-5-1 record with a career that dates back to 2011 when he debuted in his native South Africa.