Ryan Garcia insists that he is not a cheater.
Following a report that Garcia’s latest B-sample drug test results for his April 20 fight with Devin Haney came back positive for the banned substance ostarine, Garcia’s legal team responded to the news via a statement provided to MMA Fighting.
See the full statement below.
Ryan Garcia is committed to clean and fair competition and has never intentionally used any banned substance. Soon after being notified of his positive test, Ryan voluntarily had his hair collected and shipped to Dr. Pascal Kintz, the foremost expert in toxicology and hair-sample analysis. The results of Ryan’s hair sample came back negative. This is consistent with contamination and demonstrably proves that Ryan had not ingested Ostarine over a period of time — the only way he would have had any advantage whatsoever in the ring.
Ryan has voluntarily submitted to tests throughout his career, which have always shown negative results. He also tested negative multiple times leading up to the fight against Haney. All of these factors, combined with his ultra-low levels from samples taken on April 19th and 20th (in the billionth of a gram range), point to Ryan being a victim of supplement contamination and never receiving any performance enhancing benefit from the microscopic amounts in his system. We are certain that one of the natural supplements Ryan was using in the lead up to the fight will prove to be contaminated and are in the process of testing the supplements to determine the exact source.
In the statement, Garcia’s team states that the presence of any banned substance was not due to intentional use and that a test of the boxer’s hair that was voluntarily provided to a toxicology expert came back negative. According to Garcia’s team, this lends credence to their argument that Garcia is the victim of a contaminated supplement.
Garcia himself has publicly questioned how he could pass several tests leading up to his fight with Haney, only to see positive results in the aftermath of the April 20 contest. He has also said that the quantity found in his system could not possibly have given him an advantage in the fight. His team wrote that they are “in the process of testing the supplements to determine the exact source.”
The Garcia-Haney duel was shrouded in controversy well before the drug test results were reported, with Garcia exhibiting erratic behavior on social media in the weeks leading up to the fight and then missing weight for the contest by three pounds. Fight night was no less eventful as Garcia became the first fighter to knock the previously undefeated Haney down, doing so two more times en route to a majority decision win.
Haney’s team seeks to have the result of the Garcia fight overturned, with the hope that the loss will be switched to a disqualification victory for their boxer.
Shaun Al-Shatti contributed to this report.