PFL Heavyweight Gokhan Saricam Suspended for 1 Year After Failed Drug Test

Gokhan Saricam Accepts Sanction for Violation of PFL Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/U5STdxlebp

— USADA (@usantidoping) July 11, 2024

The 2024 Professional Fighters League campaign for Gokhan Saricam was over before it could begin.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced on Thursday that Saricam had failed a pair of out-of-competition tests in April and May. The heavyweight from Turkey tested positive for clomiphene and its related metabolites, which are banned both in and out of competition under USADA and PFL policies. As a result, Saricam has been issued a one-year suspension effective the date of the first failed test, April 29.

Saricam last competed under the Bellator MMA banner, doing so for his previous seven matchups. Planning on joining the PFL heavyweight bracket, he was once booked against Steve Mowry as a late addition to the season. When Mowry withdrew from the fight, Danilo Marques stepped in his place, but Saricam was then forced out due for undisclosed reasons later determined to be flagged by USADA. Saricam won his last time out, taking a decision over Daniel James to get back in the win column, and he will be eligible to compete again at the end of April 2025.

The full statement from USADA reads as follows:

”USADA announced today that Gokhan Saricam, of Belgium, has accepted a one-year sanction for a violation of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) Anti-Doping Policy.

“Saricam, 33, tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolites as the result of samples collected out-of-competition on April 29, 2024 and May 12, 2024. Because Saricam was not yet notified of the positive tests after both samples were collected, they were treated as a single violation. Clomiphene is a Specified Substance in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and is prohibited at all times under the PFL Anti-Doping Policy and PFL Prohibited List.

Saricam’s one-year period of ineligibility began on April 29, 2024, the date his first positive sample was collected.”