Renato Canuto has built one of Brazilian jiu-jitsu’s most celebrated careers over the past decade, claiming four world titles. In recent years, the Brazilian black belt has set his sights on a new goal: a professional mixed martial arts career.
That transition took another encouraging step in March when Canuto extended his unbeaten MMA record to 4-0, stopping Dylan Aparis with a clean overhand right at 1:45 of the opening round at Tuff-N-Uff 152.
Now, weeks after that victory, Canuto has issued a public statement revealing that the Nevada Athletic Commission notified him of a temporary suspension following a post-bout PED test connected to his March 13, 2026 performance.
“I want to address the recent notice of my temporary suspension issued by the Nevada Athletic Commission following a d*ug test related to my March 13, 2026 bout,” Canuto wrote. “The test identified the presence of modafinil and its metabolite. I want to be clear: I do not dispute these findings, and I fully accept the Commission’s process and any outcome that follows.”
Despite accepting the Commission’s findings, Canuto is firm that the result was not the product of intentional wrongdoing. He attributes it to a dietary supplement he had been using, one that carried assurances of compliance with anti-d*ping standards, including a WADA logo displayed on the company’s website.
“I never knowingly or intentionally used any banned s**stance, nor did I seek to gain any unfair advantage,” he wrote. “Based on my own review and subsequent information, I believe the result was caused by a dietary supplement I had previously used.”
He continued: “Like many athletes, I rely on supplements to support training and recovery, and I made what I believed were careful and responsible choices, reviewing labels and relying on representations on the company’s website that the product was compliant with anti-doping standards. This even included a World Anti-D*ping Agency logo on the website. Unfortunately, it now appears that the product may have contained a compound related to modafinil that was not clearly disclosed.”
Canuto also noted that the supplement was consumed days before the bout and pointed to a clean testing history throughout his athletic career.
“I have underwent multiple tests in the course of my career after winning my world titles and previous MMA bouts,” he wrote. “I take full responsibility for what I put into my body. This experience has reinforced how critical it is to go beyond labels and marketing claims when it comes to supplements. I have learned from this and will implement stricter safeguards moving forward. I also want to emphasize that the supplement in question was taken days before my fight, and I had no intent whatsoever to enhance my performance improperly.”
Beyond his MMA career, Canuto is also an active competitor within UFC BJJ, an organization that has historically operated without formal anti-d*ping oversight. That is set to change by the end of this year.
The Tackett brothers, two of the promotion’s most prominent competitors, recently confirmed that formal PED testing protocols are on the way.
“UFC is going to start incorporating d**g testing into the sport of jiu-jitsu, which we are all excited about at the end of the year,” said William Tackett in a recent promotional video.
Canuto first captured a world title as a brown belt at just 19 years old, eventually claiming four championships total. His journey into martial arts was shaped in part by family. His father was deeply embedded in the sport before Canuto was born, and his uncle accumulated roughly ten Brazilian national titles in Muay Thai before his passing when Canuto was around 12 years old.
In the years that followed, jiu-jitsu became his primary focus, culminating in the black belt Gi world title he claimed in 2021 on his fourth attempt at the championship.
“That was when I was finally already kind of getting over jiu-jitsu anyway,” Canuto wrote. “I was like, you know what, this is my last try.”
Canuto closed his statement by writing, “I remain fully committed to clean competition and to upholding the integrity of the sport. I appreciate the support I’ve received and will continue to cooperate fully with the Commission as this process moves forward.”
