A new report has found almost half of MMA fighters currently use marijuana to aid recovery or in recreation. The Athletic surveyed 170 fighters from various promotions and found 45.9 percent use marijuana and a staggering 76.6 percent us CBD products.
Greg Rosenstein of The Athletic released a breakdown of the numbers from the report on social media – check them out.
“New on @TheAthleticMMA : After a poll of 170 fighters… – 45.9% said they currently use marijuana for either recovery or recreational purposes. – 76.5% said they have used CBD products,” he wrote.
UFC Senior VP of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitsky reacted to the finding and said although he had never considered them himself they seem pretty accurate.
“I think that sounds pretty accurate. I’ve never polled our roster — it’s all anecdotal — but I have had many, many, many discussions. It’s probably the No. 1 topic of questions that I’m asked from fighters,” Novitzky said. (Transcribed by BJPenn.com)
The rules towards marijuana usage in MMA have been complex for years now. Nick Diaz was once handed a five-year ban for testing positive for the drug which is now legal in many states. With that, the laws in MMA have also begun to be less strict towards the drug. Although, middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum has just finished up a four-month suspension and was forced to partake in a drug treatment program after he tested positive for the marijuana after his loss to Darren Till at UFC 244.
Do you think almost half of all MMA fighters use marijuana?