ONE Championship has suspended Kiamran Nabati and Ferrari Fairtex after both tested positive for multiple banned substances following their fight in January, a source told the Bangkok Post.
Russia’s Nabati, who secured a first-round KO in their bantamweight Muay Thai bout at ONE Friday Fights 95, will serve a one-year doping ban.
Thailand’s Ferrari, meanwhile, has been suspended by the Asia-based martial arts promotion for three months.
Nabati’s victory over Ferrari at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium has also been overturned and deemed a no contest.
Both men failed drug tests per the regulations of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which are used by the ONE Anti-Doping Programme.
The 30-year-old Nabati, ranked No 4 in ONE’s bantamweight division, tested positive for drostanolone, modafinil, and meldonium.
Drostanolone is a synthetic androgen and anabolic steroid; modafinil is a stimulant which can increase alertness, concentration and reaction time; meldonium improves endurance and recovery by increasing blood flow to muscles.
The 27-year-old Ferrari, meanwhile, flagged for two banned substances – the cardiac stimulant heptaminol, which also increases blood flow, and octodrine, a central nervous stimulant that improves alertness and pain tolerance.
Their in-competition samples were collected on January 31 at Lumpinee, and sent for testing by International Doping Tests & Management (IDTM) – which has been ONE’s anti-doping partner since August 2022.
The Sweden-based IDTM merged with Drug Free Sport International in September 2018, and together, they work with more than 300 sport and athletic organisations around the world including the NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR, the PGA Tour, LPGA, and NCAA.
In 2017, Nabati received a six-year ban from world amateur governing body IFMA – the International Federation of Muaythai Associations – for testing positive for clenbuterol and “tampering” according to its official website.
A former world championships silver medallist and a junior champion, IFMA’s website publicly disclosed a second suspension for Nabati dated to November 2024 – this time for four years, after testing positive for clenbuterol, drostanolone and meldonium, and again for “tampering”.
Nabati continued his professional career during his IFMA suspensions, which were only enforceable for amateur competition. He won the Fair Fight featherweight title in 2022 and debuted on ONE Friday Fights in November 2023, before winning a six-figure ONE Championship deal in September 2024.