UFC welterweight Bassil Hafez has been suspended for one year after testing positive for a banned substance back in March.
On Wednesday, the Combat Sports Anti-Doping Agency announced that Hafez accepted a 12-month sanction for violating the UFC’s anti-doping policy.
“Hafez tested positive for ipamorelin, a prohibited peptide hormone in the Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors, Related Substances, and Mimetics category of the UFC Prohibited List,” CSAD officials said in a statement. “The prohibited substance
was detected in an out-of-competition sample collected from Hafez on March 20, 2026, in Las Vegas, NV.
“During CSAD’s investigation, Hafez provided full and complete cooperation as defined under the UFC ADP. His cooperation included identifying and introducing CSAD to a wellness clinic he had used to obtain substances he believed were permitted for injury recovery purposes. Hafez has not competed since November 2024 due to injury and did not have a bout scheduled at the time the sample was collected. Evidence gathered during the investigation indicated that, although Hafez claimed he was unaware that a product provided to him by the wellness clinic contained ipamorelin, he acted with gross negligence by consuming the product without conducting adequate due diligence regarding its ingredients and their prohibited status.”
As a result, Hafez was suspended and won’t be eligible to compete again on or after March 20, 2027.
Prior to the CSAD announcing the suspension, Hafez took to social media to explain his side of the story when revealing that he tested positive for a banned substance.
“I took a supplement during my healing process that ended up containing a banned substance,” Hafez said. “I had provided the clinic with the banned substance list and made it clear that those ingredients were not allowed, but it still ended up being included in the mix.
“At the end of the day, it falls on me for not double and triple checking before taking it. Being injured, and sidelined from the sport, I’ve spent the last 16 years training for has been incredibly rough, both mentally and physically. The could’ve, would’ve, should’ve won’t change anything now.”
Hafez is currently 1-2 in the UFC with a win over Mickey Gall and losses to Oban Elliott and former UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena. It was the fight against Della Maddalena that got Hafez into the UFC after he accepted the fight on short notice and took the Australian to a close split decision in his debut.
He last fought in 2024 and now Hafez has to wait until 2027 to book his next fight.
