LOS ANGELES (AP) – Ultimate fighter Royce Gracie tested positive for a steroid after winning a fight earlier this month and could face a year’s suspension, the head of the California Athletic Commission said Friday.

The 40-year-old Gracie tested positive for a nandrolone metabolite steroid after beating Kazushi Sakuraba in a June 2 match at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Gracie will be suspended and fined up to $2,500, but has 30 days to appeal the decision, said Armando Garcia, the panel’s executive officer.

“I am waiting to receive the official report from the CSAC on the findings,” Gracie said in an e-mail Friday. “Once the report is received, it will be reviewed.”

“I will appeal the decision for sure, I have been a fighter for 14 years and have never taken any illegal substances, so I am sure this is just a misunderstanding.”

The fight was promoted by Japan’s Fighting and Entertainment Group. Mike Kogan, FEG event director, told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday night that he, too, was awaiting the final report.

“I don’t think it’s a clear case yet,” Kogan said. “There are false positives with this drug sometimes. I need to see the report.”

Gracie, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master whose first name is pronounced “Hoyce,” helped start the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993 and saw it develop into a lucrative pay-per-view sport. Fighters use a combination of martial arts, boxing and wrestling.

Gracie has a 14-3-3 record. His fight was the feature match in a “Dynamite! USA” show at the Coliseum.

Earlier it was announced that two other fighters on the card also tested positive for drugs.

Tim Persey tested positive for methamphetamine. He was suspended for six months and fined $1,000 pending appeal, Garcia said.

Results of a test taken before his fight indicated that former NFL receiver Johnnie Morton had a high level of testosterone, indicating he had abused a steroid before the contest, Garcia said.

He declined to take a post-fight “drugs of abuse” test and was suspended indefinitely by the athletic commission, Garcia said.

It was the second time in a week that a fighter has been identified as testing positive for steroids.

The athletic commission said Wednesday that three-time champion James Toney and Danny Batchelder, his opponent in a heavyweight boxing match May 24 in San Jose, tested positive for steroids. They were suspended indefinitely.

Toney won a split decision over Batchelder and the outcome of the fight won’t changed, the athletic commission said.

Since the commission’s current drug testing program began on March 31, about 20 fighters have tested positive for banned drugs, Garcia said.

Those included steroids, methamphetamines, cocaine, painkillers and marijuana. The athletes were involved in professional boxing, professional mixed martial arts such as ultimate fighting, and both amateur and professional kickboxing.

“Probably 90 percent” of the positive tests involved mixed martial arts contestants, Garcia said.

AP-ES-06-15-07 1941EDT