Bantamweight Brian Bowles has been placed on temporary suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission after the fighter failed a UFC 160 post-fight drug test, NAC executive director Keith Kizer told ESPN.com on Friday.
Test results revealed that Bowles' testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio was higher than 20-to-1.
"They're above 20, but below 30. They're somewhere in the 20s but I don't have an exact number," Kizer said. "But even if it's 20.1, it's way too high. And that, of course, indicates the alleged use of synthetic testosterone, which is a banned suspense.
"I've put him on temporary suspension, which is not a finding of guilt. It's just the status quo. These are just allegations at this time. But he is on temporary suspension, so he can't fight here anytime soon until we figure out what happened here."
The 32-year-old former WEC champion was knocked out in the first round at UFC 160, held May 25 in Las Vegas, by George Roop. It was Bowles' second loss in a row. He has a professional record of 10-3.
Kizer plans to file a formal complaint against Bowles next week. Bowles will then be placed on the commission's next agenda meeting, expected to be held near the end of this month.
"We will either ask the commission to continue the suspension before there is a disciplinary hearing on the complaint, that I will issue next week, or if [Bowles] is ready to go and the [attorney general's] office is ready to go, then they can have a full hearing on the complaint in late June," Kizer said.
Post-fight test results for all of the other participants on the UFC 160 card came back negative.
