Ex-PFL champion Bruno Cappelozza suspended 1 year by USADA after failed drug test

Cooper Neill, PFL

PFL heavyweight Bruno Cappelozza won’t fight again until 2025 after being suspended for one year by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

This is actually the second suspension the Brazilian has faced for using banned substances after he was hit with a nine-month sanction by the Nevada Athletic Commission in 2023. In that incident, Cappelozza was busted for using drostanolone — an anabolic steroid — and his win over Matheus Scheffel was overturned to a no contest.

On Monday, USADA officials announced that Cappelozza has now been suspended for one year after an out-of-competition drug test conducted on April 17 came back positive for clomiphene and its metabolite desethyl-clomifene. Clomiphene is banned at all times for athletes and listed in the class of hormone and metabolic modulators.

The one-year suspension is the maximum sentence allowable based on the substance used.

Cappelozza remains suspended until April 17, 2025.

USADA oversees the PFL anti-doping policy, which was instituted after a rash of positive drug tests plagued the promotion’s 2023 season.

It’s been a rough couple of years for the 35-year-old veteran after winning the PFL heavyweight tournament in 2021 but then losing to Scheffel in 2022. He recorded a knockout in the rematch, which was swiftly overturned due to 2023’s positive drug test.

In his return to action at the start of 2024, Cappelozza fell to ex-Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov by second-round submission.