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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff Writer
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) doled out eight suspensions in boxing and mixed martial arts Tuesday, plus a hefty fine for boxing star Devin Haney.
Haney, the undisputed boxing lightweight champion, was fined $25,000 for shoving Vasyl Lomachenko at the May 19 weigh-in for their fight the following day, it was decided at the commission’s monthly meeting Tuesday. The money will be taken from the $400,000 the NSAC had been withholding from Haney’s purse. The rest of that money will be distributed to Haney, who ended up winning the bout by unanimous decision.
Boxer Alberto Puello was temporarily suspended by the NSAC earlier this year and pulled from a scheduled May 13 fight against Rolando Romero due to a failed drug test for the banned substance clomiphene. On Tuesday, the commission suspended Puello for six months. He can return to the ring Oct. 5.
Seven PFL fighters were given their official disciplines from the NSAC on Tuesday for failed drug tests. Ten PFL fighters failed drug tests during the first of the promotion’s regular season, which featured three events in Las Vegas. All of those fighters have since been removed from PFL’s 2023 season.
Rob Wilkinson, PFL’s 2022 light heavyweight champion and one of the top 205-pound fighters in the world, was suspended nine months and fined $7,500 for testing positive for having an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone level due to the presence of testosterone of an exogenous origin, a steroid.
Rizvan Kuniev and Mohammad Fakhreddine were both suspended one year. Kuniev tested positive for three different anabolic steroids and a stimulant. Fakhreddine tested positive for two steroids and a banned hormone modulator. Kuniev was fined $9,000 and Fakhreddine was fined $6,000.
Cezar Ferreira, Will Fleury and Daniel Torres were hit with nine-month suspensions. Ferreira tested positive for clomiphene and a steroid, Fleury tested positive for the steroid drostanolone and Torres popped for drostanolone and an amphetamine. Ferreira was fined $3,000, while Fleury and Torres were fined $2,250 and $2,500, respectively. Torres’ suspension and fine were reduced due to providing medical documentation for the substances.
Thiago Santos, a former UFC title challenger, was suspended six months and fined $1,500 for testing positive for clomiphene.