Yoel Romero, manager hint on social media that B sample test may exonerate him on USADA violation

Yoel Romero may be getting himself right back into the UFC Middleweight Title mix. According to a report from MMAFighting.com on Friday, Romero was awaiting results of his B sample after an out of competition drug test by USADA flagged him for a violation, at which time he and his team would appeal the result.

Though no results have yet come back, social media posts from Romero and his manager Malki Kawa suggest that things may have gone his way with the B sample test.

First up was Kawa, who posted the following on Twitter:

Yo I got some news for you guys regarding Yoel romero

— malki kawa (@malkikawa) February 5, 2016

I think Tim Kennedy might have to eat his words

— malki kawa (@malkikawa) February 5, 2016

That was followed by a post from Romero, and it seems he’ll find himself exonerated after the fact.

@malkikawa @beanshop @firstroundmgmt it’s a good day and great news for the #ufc. Get ready for the new champ

A photo posted by Yoel Romero (@yoelromeromma) on Feb 5, 2016 at 7:10pm PST

There is still no official announcement, and no timetable for any appeal process, but if the first test was faulty in some manner, Romero will be cleared to return.

Penick’s Analysis: It’s going to be a very bad look for the UFC and USADA process if this winds up turning against them. The announcement of “potential” violations essentially condemns these fighters in public opinion before the process plays itself out, and it seems at the least no announcement should be made until the B samples get tested to verify results. With how this has played out, the UFC could have put Romero in against Luke Rockhold for the UFC Middleweight Title, but because of what might be an erroneous test result, he may have missed out on that title shot. With the testing efforts ramping up significantly, these processes need to be brought under more scrutiny in order to not only streamline disciplinary proceedings, but protect fighters in the event there’s a faulty test, as might be the case here. Until more comes out this is simply speculation, but there seems to be something here.

[Photo (c) Gary A. Vasquez via USA Today Sports]

Attention iPhone/iPad users, if you’ve enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you’ve never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store. We’ve launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out! An update to our Android app is on its way soon as well, so Android users keep an eye out for that update soon!