Niko Price’s #UFCHouston Win Over Alex Morono Changed to a No Contest [Updated]

Alex Morono suffered his first UFC loss when facing Niko Price at UFC Fight Night 104 last month in his hometown of Houston, Tx. Morono dominated the first half of the fight, but during an exchange in the finals seconds of the second round, Price landed a right hook that knocked out Morono.

As of today, Price’s win has been overturned into a no contest. Although it has yet to be confirmed by official sources, Price is alleged to have failed a drug test.

According to Morono, he was informed of the failed test but was not made aware of the substance.

Morono gave a suggestion for a rule change in regards to similar situations.

“Banned substance usage is ruled as a no contest. A no contest is from an illegal foul committed unintentionally. A DQ is from an illegal foul committed intentionally. Using banned substances are 100% intentional. If it was an actual accident it would be ruled in arbitration with USADA. If it were a DQ, the fighter in my position would at least be given a win and the win bonus, which is at least something. It’s a win-win-win, fighters who are clean get rewarded.”

Update from MMAFighting.com

Three UFC fighters have failed drug tests and have been sanctioned in the state of Texas. But not with USADA.

Niko Price, Curtis Blaydes and Abel Trujillo all tested positive for marijuana in in-competition drug tests in relation to UFC Fight Night 104 in Houston, sources told MMA Fighting on Friday. All three have been suspended 90 days and fined $1,000 by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), sources said.

Despite their test failures for marijuana, none are facing any sanctions from USADA, per USADA spokesperson Ryan Madden. USADA only suspends fighters for cannabis if their drug test comes back with more than 150 ng/ml of the substance’s metabolites, a rule derived from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code.

Texas does not really have a true threshold for cannabis, sources said. It was immediately unclear how much cannabis the tests showed were in the three fighters’ systems. MMA Fighting has made an open records request with the TDLR for that information.

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