Khalil Rountree suspended for doping tests, but main event safe

The main event of UFC 307 can take place without any problems on Thursday following the suspension of Khalil Rountree.

The Nevada Athletic Commission issued an official penalty during its monthly meeting, but it will expire before Rountree's Oct. 5 fight against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in Salt Lake City.

Rountree, 34, was suspended for 4.5 months and fined $157.04 for legal costs as part of a settlement agreement approved by commissioners. The commission praised Rountree, who was present at the hearing, for self-reporting the incident and being cooperative throughout the process.

“I'm glad he showed up, and the self-reporting obviously had a big impact on the commission's decision here,” said NAC Chairman Dallas Haun. “I applaud him for his self-reporting.”

Rountree took the opportunity to speak and thanked the Commission for its investigation into this matter.

“I just want to thank you for looking into the details of this,” Rountree said. “It's definitely made a huge difference in everything that's going on in my life right now. I'm just really grateful to you for taking the extra time to look into the details.”

The UFC had internally suspended Rountree for two months through its anti-doping program Combat Sports Anti-Doping because he failed a doping test on May 4. Rountree had provided a urine sample that tested positive for the anabolic steroid DHEA.

According to CSAD, Rountree claimed to have accidentally ingested a blended supplement that contained DHEA. A sample tested on May 4 by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) was consistent with Rountree's claim.

Rountree was the first to publicly announce his failure, which led to his removal from the co-main event of UFC 303 on June 29 against Jamahal Hill.

Using documents provided by Rountree, CSAD confirmed that a nutritional supplement manufacturer sent the fighter products made from “therapeutic blends” “without prior authorization.” CSAD wrote that the owner of the nutritional supplement manufacturer called the error “a massive oversight on our part.”

“CSAD has determined that Rountree's actions after discovering the error and the evidence in this case meet these criteria, and therefore CSAD is reducing Rountree's sentence to two months,” CSAD said in a statement.

The doses taken by Rountree probably did not produce any significant increase in performance, CSAD said after consulting with SMRTL.

For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.