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USADA, the organization responsible for the testing and results management process for athletes in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement, announced Monday that 2016 World champion Leonardo Nogueira has failed a doping test.



Nogueira, 29 years old, tested positive for a clomiphene -- a prohibited substance -- and will receive a two-year sanction for his anti-doping rule violation.



The 2016 black belt super heavyweight champion was tested on June 5, 2016, at the IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships held in Long Beach, California.



Although the IBJJF is not a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code, USADA was contracted by IBJJF to conduct testing for the event and collected Nogueira's sample in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) International Standard for Testing and Investigations.



Clomiphene is commonly used as part of post-cycle therapy -- taken shortly after a course of performance enhancing anabolic steroids -- in order to boost testosterone levels. It is a Specified Substance in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators on the WADA Prohibited List and prohibited at all times under the World Anti-Doping Code and the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, which applied to the 2016 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships.



Nogueira has been sanctioned for two years, dating from June 5, 2016, the date his sample was collected.



In addition, the IBJJF Nogueira has stripped of the gold medal from the 2016 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships. He defeated Alexandro Ceconi in the final, who is expected to be crowned 2016 champion as a result.



