UFC fighter Tom Lawlor suspended 2 years following positive drug test

UFC light heavyweight Tom Lawlor has been suspended two years after testing positive for a banned substance in a sample submitted on Oct. 10, 2016.

USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) announced on Friday that Lawlor had accepted the two-year sanction with the suspension retroactive to the date of his test, which means he will be eligible to return to competition in October 2018.

Lawlor tested positive for ostarine "also known as MK-2866 and Enobosarm, is a non-FDA approved selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) which is illegally sold in the United States and globally as a performance-enhancing substance" according to a release from USADA.

"Ostarine is not currently available as a prescription medication in any country, and its unauthorized use may carry serious side effects," USADA officials added. "Nonetheless, ostarine has been found as a declared and undeclared ingredient in many dietary supplements sold in the United States, which has prompted the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warning letters to specific dietary supplement manufacturers stating that ostarine is an unapproved new drug and that selling the drug is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA)."

When the doping violation was first announced last year, Lawlor denied knowingly taking any banned substances but now he's been suspended for two years as a result.

Lawlor hasn't fought in the UFC since March 2016 when he lost a unanimous decision to Corey Anderson.

While on hiatus from mixed martial arts, Lawlor has recently ventured into professional wrestling where is set to make his debut on Saturday night in Las Vegas.