After a six-month suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), UFC bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley was scheduled to return to the cage opposite Marlon Vera at UFC 239. Regrettably, O’Malley once again tested positive for the banned substance ostarine, the same banned substance he was previously sanctioned for, nixing his planned return. UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes these issues likely have a pretty straightforward cause.

Rogan discussed the issue on a recent edition of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

“He got a tainted supplement,” Rogan began (transcript via Pundit Arena). “These new tests that they have, they are so f**king extensive, they catch sh*t that you did years ago. If you took a tainted supplement with something that has zero performance benefit years ago it can still show up in your system.

“Whereas they used to have ‘oh, it will be out of your system in six weeks’.”

Joe Rogan continued, sharing his belief that USADA and UFC VP of Athlete Health and Development Jeff Novitzky have helped significantly curb PED-related cheating in MMA.

“There’s a lot of cheating in professional sports but less than there used to be in MMA thanks to USADA and Novitzky.”

While Joe Rogan is seemingly willing to give Sean O’Malley a pass for his drug testing woes, O’Malley’s would be opponent Marlon Vera is understandably a little more frustrated.

“(Expletive) him,” Vera told MMA Junkie. “I don’t know what’s happening. I really don’t know if he’s really cheating or not. Again, (expletive) that guy. He was just an opponent, and I’ll wait for another guy. Hopefully, they can find me a replacement. If they don’t do it, then I cannot stress for stuff I cannot control.”

What do you think of Sean O’Malley’s recent issues? Are you with Joe Rogan on this one?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/26/2019.