Unauthorized UFC logo being used to sell illegal steroids

An online store is selling “UFC Pharma” branded steroids to members of the public, leading to awkward listings on USADA’s High Risk list.

An online seller of performance enhancing drugs has started branding their products with UFC logos and UFC-branded security stickers under the name “UFC Pharma”. These products have come to the attention of USADA, who have added warnings that they contain banned substances to the USADA supplement website.

USADA maintain a “High Risk” list of dietary supplements to help athletes avoid supplements that appear to contain banned substances. Substances on this list often contain relatively benign names like “Beast Mode” or “Andro-Lean Stack”, but the people behind “UFC Pharma” went ahead and just named most of their products after commonly used abbreviations of anabolic steroids. Halotestin became “Halo 10”. Trenbolone Acetate became “Tren A 100”.

UFC Pharma PEDs/Steroids on USADA 411 high risk list.

This isn’t a case of an over the counter supplement containing a legal substance that is banned by USADA, nor is it a case of a supplement being tainted with an illegal substance to increase its potency. This is straight up someone putting the UFC logo on vials of powerful anabolic androgenic steroids and related substances.

As originally reported by @Dimspace and FloCombat, there is a laundry list of products purporting to contain various steroids and related substances, apparently for sale to the public. All of these ingredients are banned by USADA, and none of them are legal to possess without a prescription in the United States or, apparently, Poland, where the site is based.

Anastrozole/Armidex is the only “UFC Pharma” branded substance on the risk which isn’t a steroid. It is an aromatase inhibitor, intended to be taken alongside/after a cycle of steroids to prevent potential side effects caused by increased estrogen. The rest of the list, printed below, contains a wide variety of anabolic androgenic steroids:

Boldenone

Drostanolone

Halotestin/Fluoxymesterone

Methandrostenole & Clostebol

Methandrostenolone/Methandienone

Nandrolone

Oxandrolone

Oxymetholone

Primobolan/Methenolone Enanthate

Proviron/Mesterolone

Stanozolol

Testosterone propionate

Trenbolone Acetate

Some of the substances listed have a storied history in MMA. Well over a dozen mixed martial artists have failed tests for drostanolone over the last decade. Almost the same number have failed tests for nandrolone and stanozolol in the same time period.

USADA lists all of these substances as being produced by “UFC Pharma” on the list, but has a disclaimer in the comments stating:

What isn’t clear is whether or not the products even contain the ingredients advertised. The black market of steroids isn’t exactly well regulated. Even if they contain the claimed substances, all of these ingredients are powerful drugs which can have serious unintended effects on a person’s hormonal systems or liver, especially in the case of oral steroids.

The UFC are known to vigorously defend their intellectual property, and misuse of their trademark in this way is almost certainly something they will pay attention to. Illegal drug dealers have been using prominent brands to differentiate their products for years, from ecstasy pills branded with the Mitsubishi logo to blocks of cocaine stamped with the Superman logo. This probably isn’t the last time we’ll hear of someone trying to use the UFC brand to push their performance enhancing drugs to the public.

An online store is selling “UFC Pharma” branded steroids to members of the public, leading to awkward listings on USADA’s High Risk list.

An online seller of performance enhancing drugs has started branding their products with UFC logos and UFC-branded security stickers under the name “UFC Pharma”. These products have come to the attention of USADA, who have added warnings that they contain banned substances to the USADA supplement website.

USADA maintain a “High Risk” list of dietary supplements to help athletes avoid supplements that appear to contain banned substances. Substances on this list often contain relatively benign names like “Beast Mode” or “Andro-Lean Stack”, but the people behind “UFC Pharma” went ahead and just named most of their products after commonly used abbreviations of anabolic steroids. Halotestin became “Halo 10”. Trenbolone Acetate became “Tren A 100”.

UFC Pharma PEDs/Steroids on USADA 411 high risk list.

This isn’t a case of an over the counter supplement containing a legal substance that is banned by USADA, nor is it a case of a supplement being tainted with an illegal substance to increase its potency. This is straight up someone putting the UFC logo on vials of powerful anabolic androgenic steroids and related substances.

As originally reported by @Dimspace and FloCombat, there is a laundry list of products purporting to contain various steroids and related substances, apparently for sale to the public. All of these ingredients are banned by USADA, and none of them are legal to possess without a prescription in the United States or, apparently, Poland, where the site is based.

Anastrozole/Armidex is the only “UFC Pharma” branded substance on the risk which isn’t a steroid. It is an aromatase inhibitor, intended to be taken alongside/after a cycle of steroids to prevent potential side effects caused by increased estrogen. The rest of the list, printed below, contains a wide variety of anabolic androgenic steroids:

Boldenone

Drostanolone

Halotestin/Fluoxymesterone

Methandrostenole & Clostebol

Methandrostenolone/Methandienone

Nandrolone

Oxandrolone

Oxymetholone

Primobolan/Methenolone Enanthate

Proviron/Mesterolone

Stanozolol

Testosterone propionate

Trenbolone Acetate

Some of the substances listed have a storied history in MMA. Well over a dozen mixed martial artists have failed tests for drostanolone over the last decade. Almost the same number have failed tests for nandrolone and stanozolol in the same time period.

USADA lists all of these substances as being produced by “UFC Pharma” on the list, but has a disclaimer in the comments stating:

What isn’t clear is whether or not the products even contain the ingredients advertised. The black market of steroids isn’t exactly well regulated. Even if they contain the claimed substances, all of these ingredients are powerful drugs which can have serious unintended effects on a person’s hormonal systems or liver, especially in the case of oral steroids.

The UFC are known to vigorously defend their intellectual property, and misuse of their trademark in this way is almost certainly something they will pay attention to. Illegal drug dealers have been using prominent brands to differentiate their products for years, from ecstasy pills branded with the Mitsubishi logo to blocks of cocaine stamped with the Superman logo. This probably isn’t the last time we’ll hear of someone trying to use the UFC brand to push their performance enhancing drugs to the public.