Caught With Ostarine in His System Before, Sean O’Malley Explains Why Ryan Garcia’s Failed PED Test Was “A Big Deal”

After weeks of suspense, it was finally the day of the verdict for Ryan Garcia. Regulations eventually caught up with the boxing superstar. It follows his failure to clear drug tests conducted for the Devin Haney fight. The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), which probed his case, has handed over a suspension that should last at least a year. The punitive action includes other elements, such as monetary fines and overturning the April 20 fight’s initial decision. The match will be a ‘no contest’. As one would expect, the development has become the focal point of discussions across social media platforms. ‘BS w/ Jake Paul’ proved no exception.

In fact, the latest episode might come across as a bit interesting for fans and viewers. The guest who joined ‘The Problem Child’ and his team of co-hosts was none other than Sean O’Malley. Some of the diehard fans may already know. The UFC bantamweight champion co-owns along with Jake Paul the newly launched brand ‘W’. But then a few other fans might also remember ‘Sugar’s involvement with ‘Ostarine’, the banned PED found in Ryan Garcia’s test samples. So who better to ask than Sean O’Malley why the whole Ryan Garcia doping scandal got so hyped when there have been several other instances of athletes and fighters, including himself, consuming it?

Sean O’Malley to Ryan Garcia: Reflections on a Not-So-Distant Past

But Jake Paul was initially doubtful. He sounded hesitant about whether he should broach the matter or not. However, soon he rejoined; if inappropriate or irrelevant, they could always go back and remove the segment from the content. So he went ahead. “Because of your situation with the ostarine and you said to me, like and it, I like fully felt your energy. You’re like, I swear on my daughter’s life; I never did that, and you got popped for it,” asked ‘The Problem Child’.

Sean O’Malley immediately replied, “Yeah same thing happened uh to Ryan right now; he popped for Ostarine.” Jake Paul and Jasper joined him, wondering about the reported super low quantity (a billionth of a gram) traced in ‘KingRy’s system. ‘Sugar’ recalled that, just like Garcia, he also went through the same situation. Hence, when he came across news of the Californian boxer failing drug tests, he initially didn’t buy any of it at all.

According to him, a lot of people experience the same issue. That’s why many call ‘Ostarine’ the tainted supplement, said Sean O’Malley. He explained how oftentimes athletes end up consuming supplements that haven’t been tested by any of the third-party testing authorities. This measure comes with an inherent risk since the supplement might contain a banned substance such as ‘Ostarine’.

However, despite everything, ‘Sugar’ insisted that his case never received that much publicity. It could have been for the reason that, unlike now, he wasn’t such a starfighter at the time. However, he said, “It still was like a big deal because of my name. The reason it’s going so crazy right now is because Ryan Garcia is a superstar, so people are freaking out.” Otherwise, the issue remains quite common, as the UFC bantamweight champion asserted.

When one followed the other

Five years ago, back in 2019, in the lead-up to the UFC 239 fight with Marlon Vera in Las Vegas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) handed over a temporary suspension to Sean O’Malley. Reason? Traces of ‘Ostarine’ were found in his body. Then, was that the first instance? No. Nearly a year ago, in 2018, before his bout against Jose Alberto Quinonez at UFC 229, drug tests returned positive results for ‘Ostarine’. As a result, he had to stay out of the octagon until March 2019.

There’s some point in what the Montana-born MMA fighter mentioned. In boxing itself, many seem to have forgotten former champion Amir Khan’s case. However, in Ryan Garcia’s case, perhaps the messenger gained more significance than the message itself because of Garcia’s massive popularity.

What’s your take on Sean O’Malley’s observations? Do you agree with him?