UFC anti-doping partner USADA today announced a six-month suspension for UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn, retroactive to the March 25 date he admitted using a banned IV.

That means Penn (16-10-1 MMA, 12-9-1 UFC) will be eligible to fight on Sept. 25, clearing him from a desired booking at UFC 205, which takes place Nov. 12 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Penn on Sunday called out his two-time opponent, former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre (23-2 MMA 19-2 UFC).

In a statement posted today on USADA’s website, the third-party administrator said Penn’s “voluntary” disclosure and cooperation factored into his six-month suspension. He faced a two-year term for violating the UFC’s anti-doping policy, which states the use of an IV in excess of 50 mL over a six-hour period is forbidden, “except for those legitimately received in the course of hospital admissions, surgical procedures or clinical investigations. Intravenous infusions received in any other setting require an approved therapeutic use exemption (TUE).”

Penn, whose comeback at this month’s UFC 199 was derailed, claimed he had no idea IV rehydration was banned year-round after admitting his use of the method during a March 21 out-of-competition drug test performed by USADA. The UFC’s anti-doping policy forbids the use of an IV in excess of 50 mL over a six-hour period.

“I voluntarily disclosed to USADA that during a non-fight period that I had an IV administered under the care of a doctor,” said in a statement posted on his website. “The rule for IV usage had changed since my last fight in the UFC and was unaware of the change and voluntarily disclosed the information to USADA.

“At no time in my career in martial arts have I ever doped and anticipate all test results from USADA will come back clean and will be working with the UFC to get the matter cleared up and return to fight as soon as possible.”

Penn called for a fight with St-Pierre at lightweight after the ex-champ said he could easily compete at 155 pounds. St-Pierre, whose comeback appears imminent, owns two wins over Penn at UFC 58 and UFC 94.

Here is USADA’s full statement:

USADA announced today that Jay Dee (“BJ”) Penn of Hilo, Hawaii, an athlete in the UFC, has accepted a 6-month sanction for an anti-doping policy violation for his use of a prohibited method.

During an out-of-competition test on March 25, 2016, Penn declared the use of an intravenous infusion of a non-prohibited substance. A subsequent investigation by USADA revealed that the intravenous infusion received by Penn was administered in a volume greater than 50 mL within a 6 hour period. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, intravenous infusions in a volume greater than 50 mL within a 6 hour period are prohibited, except for those legitimately received in the course of hospital admissions, surgical procedures or clinical investigations. Intravenous infusions received in any other setting require an approved Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).

Penn, 37, voluntarily disclosed his use of the intravenous infusion and fully cooperated with USADA’s investigation into the circumstances regarding his violation. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the standard period of ineligibility may be reduced due to an individual’s voluntary admission of a violation and/or pursuant to an analysis of the individual’s degree of fault for the violation. Here, after taking both of those factors into consideration, USADA determined that a 6-month period of ineligibility was an appropriate sanction under the rules for Penn’s violation.

Penn’s period of ineligibility began on March 25, 2016, the date on which he admitted his anti-doping policy violation to USADA.

USADA conducts the year-round, independent anti-doping program for all UFC athletes. USADA is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental agency whose sole mission is to preserve the integrity of competition, inspire true sport, and protect the rights of clean athletes. The anti-doping program run by USADA for UFC athletes includes education, science and research, testing, and results management. Official UFC Anti-Doping Program information and athlete resources are available at UFC.USADA.org.

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