It looks like we won’t be seeing UFC strawweight Jessica Penne during nearly all of 2018. Stemming from a potential anti-doping violation from back in May, Penne has been suspended from competition for 18 months. The suspension has been retroactively brought back to the day after her fight with Danielle Taylor at April 22nd 2017. That means that Penne will be eligible to return to the Octagon on October 23rd of this new year.

“Although Penne’s sample was initially reported as negative for prohibited substances on the standard out-of-competition testing menu, upon review of Penne’s Athlete Biological Passport, the sample was subsequently flagged for additional analysis due to an increased degree of variability in urinary biomarkers measured in the sample,” USADA officials said in a press release. Sophisticated carbon isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) analysis confirmed the presence of a synthetic anabolic agent in Penne’s sample. Before the reanalysis of her sample was completed, Penne fought at the UFC Fight Night event in Nashville on April 22, 2017, an event sanctioned by the Tennessee Athlete Commission.” – As per a press release from USADA officials via Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.

As we all know, 2017 was a year where USADA struck down many, many fighters: Ion Cutelaba, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones to name just a few. We’re still all waiting to see how Jon Jones’ final judgement will go down. While Jessica Penne had her violation in 2017, she is the first to be suspended in 2018. There is no telling what this new year will hold for the organization when it comes to fighter’s and their anti-doping campaign.

“The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Jessica Penne of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on March 20, 2017. Penne’s sample, having undergone the standard out-competition analysis menu, was initially reported to USADA as negative. However, upon review of Penne’s Athlete Biological Passport, the sample was subsequently flagged for additional analysis due to an increased degree of variability in urinary biomarkers measured in the sample. As a result of that further analysis, the presence of a prohibited substance was detected. Before the reanalysis was completed, Penne fought at the UFC Fight Night event in Nashville on April 22, 2017.” – UFC’s statement on Jessica Penne back in May 2017.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/5/2018.