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via Imago

via Imago

Ryan Garcia‘͏s fight against Devin Haney continues to be a thriller ride for boxing fans, despite the former’s unanimous decision win two weeks ago. From the contentious build-up to the seemingly intentional weight miss, and then a performance that went against any and all expectations, Garcia kept fans on edge for the entire ride. Now, he has turned many of his newfound fans against him with a recent positive PED test, including Conor McGregor and his teammate Dillon Danis.

Just day͏s a͏fter h͏is wi͏n aga͏inst Haney, Garcia’s u͏se o͏f the banned͏ subst͏ance ͏Ostarine was con͏͏firmed, shocking Conor McGregor and lea͏din͏g h͏im t͏o publicly ridic͏ule the f͏ighter. After the victory, Conor McGregor was one of the first ones to publicly defend Garcia for being a little overweight for the fight. The Irishman had also extended his support to Garcia in his locker room, after the latter’s defeat to Gervonta Davis last year.

Interestingly, his former rival Davis is not sold on the idea that Garcia may have cheated. As such, ‘Tank’ was not quick to brand the 25-year-old a cheater, and instead pointed his fingers at Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn. But the same could not be said for McGregor, who publicly called out ‘King Ry’ for his antics. The former dual-weight champion called Garcia a cheater and called for a lifetime ban against him. In response to ‘Mystic Mac’, Garcia added that he would destroy him in a fight. In the midst of all this commotion, Dillon Danis appears to have entered the controversy by reportedly messaging the boxer.

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Danis messaged the 25-year-old stating that he respected him but after the drug revelation, he lost any respect that he had for him. This conversation was later shared by ‘King Ry’ through his X handle. “Pay day pay day -canelo voice,” wrote Garcia, hinting that Danis is just looking to create a beef and earn a substantial paycheck. ‘Pay day’ was in reference to Canelo Alvarez saying the same in response to the call-outs he used to receive from all directions.

Dillon Danis was away from the controversies for some time. However, seems like the Bellator fighter is looking for a new controversy in the shape of Ryan Garcia and Conor McGregor. Nonetheless, let us see what the former dual-weight champion said about the 25-year-old boxing prodigy.

Is Ryan Garcia to blame for the positive Ostarine tests?

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Ostarine is a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM) and Garcia reportedly tested positive for it in samples taken on the day of the fight and the day before. Ryan Garcia has denied the allegations and suggested that one of his supplements might have been tainted.

Garcia is not the first combat sports athlete to test positive for this SARM. There was a time when UFC athletes were testing positive for Ostarine front, left, and center. This includes current bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, who was also on the receiving end of McGregor’s tirade.

But according to UFC exec Jeff Novitzky, the reason was not intentional cheating, but instead, tainted supplements. “I believe we are seeing so many cases [of ostarine use] because it is one of the most common contaminants we are seeing in supplements. It appears to be all over the place in the supplement world in very small quantity,” stated Jeff Novitzky in a tweet from 2020.

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O’Malley too had expressed a similar sentiment, stating that the amounts he tested positive for would make no impact on his performance. The champion was hopeful that the science behind all this would be able to tell the difference between intentional juicing and tainted supplement usage in the near future.

Considering all this, what do you think? Is Garcia innocent? And what do you make of McGregor and Danis’ statements to ‘King Ry’? Let us know in the comments below.