In Mike Dolce’s eyes, Johny Hendricks should still be the UFC welterweight champion. Dolce thought his client beat Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC 181 “no problem.”
However, the award-winning MMA diet and nutrition guru thought it wou…
However, the award-winning MMA diet and nutrition guru thought it would have been far easier if Hendricks had not allowed himself to get out of shape in between fights, forcing a very steep weight cut.
“Johny Hendricks has such problems with his weigh-ins, because he balloons up in the offseason,” Dolce told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “He carries too much body fat. It’s extremely unhealthy to dehydrate the muscles, where you can’t dehydrate the body fat. So it comes out of all the vital areas of the body and that causes all these poor performances.”
Dolce praised Lawler for living the life of a professional athlete year-round. He wants to see the same level of commitment for Hendricks.
“You don’t deserve to beat these guys if you’re not living the same lifestyle,” Dolce said. “Talent and a hard punch is only gonna get you so far. You gotta earn the victory long before the fight.”
Hendricks (16-3) meets Matt Brown in what could be a title eliminator at UFC 185 on March 14 in Dallas. Dolce said the former champ is under 200 pounds –somewhere in the 190 range — already, while typically he can get up to more than 210 pounds. That’s the good part about a quick turnaround before fights. But there are cons to go along with that pro.
“That short turnaround is hard when he went through a weight cut like he did, when he went through the type of fight that he had,” Dolce said. “That was a hard fight. Robbie landed some serious shots, not just to his head, but his body, too.”
But it isn’t like Dolce doesn’t think Hendricks can and will beat Brown.
“Johny is a champion, man,” Dolce said. “You can’t count a kid like Johny Hendricks out. Look at his body of work. Look at what he’s done. Look at his [Georges St-Pierre] fight. I think he manhandled GSP. How do you count out a kid like Johny Hendricks, who is a born winner?”
So far, so good in this training camp, Dolce said. But the trainer wants Hendricks to stick with this year-round work ethic.
“I would love to see Johny really dial it in,” Dolce said. “It seems like he’s doing that right now. But we won’t know until fight week comes. That’s the unfortunate thing with Johny.”
Anderson Silva made an incredible comeback at UFC 183, beating Nick Diaz by unanimous decision just 13 months after breaking his leg in gruesome fashion against Chris Weidman.
However, it was reported Tuesday by Yahoo! Sports that Silva had tested positive for anabolic steroid metabolites in a pre-fight, out-of-competition drug test Jan. 9. Those banned substances very well could have aided his rehabilitation process, according to SB Nation medical expert Dr. Ali Mohamadi, an endocrinologist.
“These drugs wouldn’t speed bone healing itself, but it’s possible the increased muscle mass could make rehab easier than it otherwise would be,” Mohamadi told MMAFighting.com.
Silva tested positive for drostanolone and androstane, both prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code followed by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC). He has been temporarily suspended by the NAC and will face discipline at a hearing in either March or April. Silva is denying he took any performance-enhancing drugs, he said in a statement today through manager Ed Soares.
How could those substances have assisted him in training camp and the fight? Quite a bit, Mohamadi said.
“They could be potentially extraordinarily helpful in terms of rapid muscle building, both in terms of just physically causing the muscles and proteins to build,” the doctor said. “It also has a second factor in terms of workouts. It allows you to have an easy recovery period after your workout. That increases the efficiency of your workout.”
Drostanoline is an anabolic steroid, while androstane is a little different. Mohamadi said it is a generic term small molecules that are metabolites for another substance — something like dihydrotesterone or dehydroepiandrosterone. Both of those are also steroids. Androstane is not typically manufactured for performance-enhancing drug use, but it can be, which is why it’s on the WADA banned list, Mohamadi said.
“Another possibility is that these showed up in the blood, because Silva was taking a different substance entirely that may have included DHT or DHEA and when they break down in the blood, they turn into androstane and cause a positive test,” Mohamadi said. “That would probably be my theory.”
The effects of drostanolone are significant and rapid, Mohamadi said.
“It essentially works in two different ways to improve muscle mass and muscle definition,” he said. “The first is it basically causes an increase in a production of proteins. That’s the actual physical factor that causes muscles to build up significantly. The second is that they can reduce recovery time from workouts. That’s by decreasing the effects of other stress hormones. So in two ways, both in terms of increasing the muscle mass and reducing recovery time from workouts, you can get an enormous effect in simply a matter of weeks.”
Both drostanolone and androstane are easily detected by drug tests. So why would Silva risk that instead of using HGH or something synthetic that would require a more invasive testing method? Mohamadi is unsure, but figures it has to do with availability.
“Easier access would be probably the reason that would make people choose one of those versus something like HGH, which is effective but becoming increasingly difficult to obtain due to the fact that there are tight regulations on the distribution of HGH,” he said. “It’s just really hard to get your hands on HGH, and it’s becoming harder as the regulations tighten.”
In order to get drostanolone or androstane, all Silva really needed was Google.
“You can go online and find any one of a number of the older generation anabolic steroids that are being sold through distributors,” Mohamadi said. “These are not that hard to get your hands on. A lot of the newer drugs, a lot of the designer drugs really require a lot of effort.”
Anabolic steroids like drostanolone could have helped Silva’s fight preparation immensely. But there are serious downsides with regards to health.
“It can result in severe aggression,” Mohamadi said. “It can result in the decrease in libido. It can result in issues related to liver failure. It’s not the most benign treatment in the world. It can cause very significant side effects. But for muscle building, there’s no question that it has very potent and very rapidly acting effects.”
Mohamadi said drostanolone can be detected in the system as long as two months after being taken. Silva popped positive on Jan. 9, but two others tests — on or around Jan. 18 and on fight night Jan. 31 — have not come back yet.
Either way, Silva, the former UFC middleweight champion and legend of the sport, is facing a suspension and fine from the NAC. And at age 39, it’s unclear if he will ever compete again.
“You can have an extremely profound effect in terms of muscle mass and strength without having to require too much time or effort into having that effect take place,” Mohamadi said.
Either way, if Silva did indeed use those drugs, there would have been a competitive advantage medically speaking.
“It can have an extremely profound affect in terms of muscle mass and strength without having to require too much time or effort into having that affect take place,” Mohamadi said.
Anderson Silva made an incredible comeback at UFC 183, beating Nick Diaz by unanimous decision just 13 months after breaking his leg in gruesome fashion against Chris Weidman.
However, it was reported Tuesday by Yahoo! Sports that Silva had tested positive for anabolic steroid metabolites in a pre-fight, out-of-competition drug test Jan. 9. Those banned substances very well could have aided his rehabilitation process, according to SB Nation medical expert Dr. Ali Mohamadi, an endocrinologist.
“These drugs wouldn’t speed bone healing itself, but it’s possible the increased muscle mass could make rehab easier than it otherwise would be,” Mohamadi told MMAFighting.com.
Silva tested positive for drostanolone and androstane, both prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code followed by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC). He has been temporarily suspended by the NAC and will face discipline at a hearing in either March or April. Silva is denying he took any performance-enhancing drugs, he said in a statement today through manager Ed Soares.
How could those substances have assisted him in training camp and the fight? Quite a bit, Mohamadi said.
“They could be potentially extraordinarily helpful in terms of rapid muscle building, both in terms of just physically causing the muscles and proteins to build,” the doctor said. “It also has a second factor in terms of workouts. It allows you to have an easy recovery period after your workout. That increases the efficiency of your workout.”
Drostanoline is an anabolic steroid, while androstane is a little different. Mohamadi said it is a generic term small molecules that are metabolites for another substance — something like dihydrotesterone or dehydroepiandrosterone. Both of those are also steroids. Androstane is not typically manufactured for performance-enhancing drug use, but it can be, which is why it’s on the WADA banned list, Mohamadi said.
“Another possibility is that these showed up in the blood, because Silva was taking a different substance entirely that may have included DHT or DHEA and when they break down in the blood, they turn into androstane and cause a positive test,” Mohamadi said. “That would probably be my theory.”
The effects of drostanolone are significant and rapid, Mohamadi said.
“It essentially works in two different ways to improve muscle mass and muscle definition,” he said. “The first is it basically causes an increase in a production of proteins. That’s the actual physical factor that causes muscles to build up significantly. The second is that they can reduce recovery time from workouts. That’s by decreasing the effects of other stress hormones. So in two ways, both in terms of increasing the muscle mass and reducing recovery time from workouts, you can get an enormous effect in simply a matter of weeks.”
Both drostanolone and androstane are easily detected by drug tests. So why would Silva risk that instead of using HGH or something synthetic that would require a more invasive testing method? Mohamadi is unsure, but figures it has to do with availability.
“Easier access would be probably the reason that would make people choose one of those versus something like HGH, which is effective but becoming increasingly difficult to obtain due to the fact that there are tight regulations on the distribution of HGH,” he said. “It’s just really hard to get your hands on HGH, and it’s becoming harder as the regulations tighten.”
In order to get drostanolone or androstane, all Silva really needed was Google.
“You can go online and find any one of a number of the older generation anabolic steroids that are being sold through distributors,” Mohamadi said. “These are not that hard to get your hands on. A lot of the newer drugs, a lot of the designer drugs really require a lot of effort.”
Anabolic steroids like drostanolone could have helped Silva’s fight preparation immensely. But there are serious downsides with regards to health.
“It can result in severe aggression,” Mohamadi said. “It can result in the decrease in libido. It can result in issues related to liver failure. It’s not the most benign treatment in the world. It can cause very significant side effects. But for muscle building, there’s no question that it has very potent and very rapidly acting effects.”
Mohamadi said drostanolone can be detected in the system as long as two months after being taken. Silva popped positive on Jan. 9, but two others tests — on or around Jan. 18 and on fight night Jan. 31 — have not come back yet.
Either way, Silva, the former UFC middleweight champion and legend of the sport, is facing a suspension and fine from the NAC. And at age 39, it’s unclear if he will ever compete again.
“You can have an extremely profound effect in terms of muscle mass and strength without having to require too much time or effort into having that effect take place,” Mohamadi said.
Either way, if Silva did indeed use those drugs, there would have been a competitive advantage medically speaking.
“It can have an extremely profound affect in terms of muscle mass and strength without having to require too much time or effort into having that affect take place,” Mohamadi said.
Anderson Silva has been temporarily suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC), but he’ll continue on in his role of coach for The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 4, UFC president Dana White said Wednesday in a statement.
White said that Silva has “never tested positive for a banned substance” in his UFC career until now and that the promotion will ensure he gets his “due process and we will support him during this time.”
Silva tested positive for drostanolone, an anabolic steroid, and androstane in a Jan. 9 out-of-competition drug test, Yahoo! reported Tuesday. Both substances are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the code used by the NAC. Silva, who was attempting to come back from a broken leg 13 months ago, went on to defeat Nick Diaz at UFC 183 on Saturday. The commission did not get the results back from last month’s test until Tuesday and it is still waiting on results from two other Silva tests.
Diaz also failed a drug test, testing positive for marijuana metabolites in a post-fight screening. Both men are facing further discipline from the NAC at a hearing in either March or April. Silva’s win could also be overturned into a no contest at that time.
Silva is denying that he used any kind of performance-enhancing drugs.
TUF Brazil airs both on UFC Fight Pass and on broadcast television in Brazil. Silva is currently in Las Vegas filming the series. He’ll be coaching up against fellow legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Here is White’s full statement:
“Anderson Silva has been one of the greatest athletes this sport has ever seen. He has had a long and distinguished career in mixed martial arts. In his nine years with the UFC, Anderson has never tested positive for a banned substance. In light of this, we want to ensure that Anderson gets his due process and we will support him during this time. While this process plays out, Anderson will continue in his role as coach of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. Of course we will continue to monitor the actions of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“We fully support the Commission’s out-of-competition drug testing program, which we have financed when requested over the past two years. Testing of this nature is important to help keep the sport clean. The director at the laboratory in Salt Lake City has now explained the timing of Anderson’s test results and why the Commission and the UFC did not receive the results until February 3, after the fight.
“Once all the results have been made public and the Nevada State Athletic Commission has rendered its decision, we will respect the process and move forward accordingly.”
Anderson Silva has been temporarily suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC), but he’ll continue on in his role of coach for The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 4, UFC president Dana White said Wednesday in a statement.
White said that Silva has “never tested positive for a banned substance” in his UFC career until now and that the promotion will ensure he gets his “due process and we will support him during this time.”
Silva tested positive for drostanolone, an anabolic steroid, and androstane in a Jan. 9 out-of-competition drug test, Yahoo! reported Tuesday. Both substances are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the code used by the NAC. Silva, who was attempting to come back from a broken leg 13 months ago, went on to defeat Nick Diaz at UFC 183 on Saturday. The commission did not get the results back from last month’s test until Tuesday and it is still waiting on results from two other Silva tests.
Diaz also failed a drug test, testing positive for marijuana metabolites in a post-fight screening. Both men are facing further discipline from the NAC at a hearing in either March or April. Silva’s win could also be overturned into a no contest at that time.
Silva is denying that he used any kind of performance-enhancing drugs.
TUF Brazil airs both on UFC Fight Pass and on broadcast television in Brazil. Silva is currently in Las Vegas filming the series. He’ll be coaching up against fellow legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Here is White’s full statement:
“Anderson Silva has been one of the greatest athletes this sport has ever seen. He has had a long and distinguished career in mixed martial arts. In his nine years with the UFC, Anderson has never tested positive for a banned substance. In light of this, we want to ensure that Anderson gets his due process and we will support him during this time. While this process plays out, Anderson will continue in his role as coach of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. Of course we will continue to monitor the actions of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“We fully support the Commission’s out-of-competition drug testing program, which we have financed when requested over the past two years. Testing of this nature is important to help keep the sport clean. The director at the laboratory in Salt Lake City has now explained the timing of Anderson’s test results and why the Commission and the UFC did not receive the results until February 3, after the fight.
“Once all the results have been made public and the Nevada State Athletic Commission has rendered its decision, we will respect the process and move forward accordingly.”
Nick Diaz no-showed UFC 183 open workouts. He also almost didn’t make the actual fight.
Diaz was not licensed to compete against Anderson Silva on Saturday night until the week of the fight, MMAFighting.com has learned. Diaz was not able to provide a clean drug sample to the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) until “days before” the bout, his coach Cesar Gracie said. NAC executive Bob Bennett confirmed the information Wednesday.
Diaz then tested positive for marijuana metabolites in a post-fight drug test, as Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday. Bennett said the amount of marijuana metabolites in Diaz’s system was 300 ng/ml — double the threshold of 150 ng/ml.
Fighters who have failed tests previously must re-apply for licenses with the NAC before being allowed to compete again. Diaz had popped for weed twice before in Nevada. The process to get re-licensed requires submitting documentation of a clean drug test. Gracie said Diaz was not able to do so until the 11th hour. Bennett said he believes the paperwork came in Jan. 28, three days before UFC 183.
“It’s not an anomaly,” Bennett said. “We do get them at the last second. We’d prefer not to, because it creates problems. But don’t think we didn’t contact the promoters. We did contact the promoters. We said, ‘We need a clean bill of health from Nick or he isn’t fighting.'”
According to Gracie, Diaz failed several tests before passing the one that was submitted to the commission last week. The positive tests were not submitted to the commission, so Bennett said he has no records of them. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Marijuana is not prohibited by the NAC out of competition, so Diaz faced no penalties leading up to the bout.
Diaz will face discipline since that is an in-competition test. Anything inside a 12-hour window before and after the fight is considered in-competition.
Gracie said they were confident Diaz would pass the test before the fight and get licensed. However, he is confused as to how Diaz passed a drug test before the fight, did not smoke after it and then failed the post-fight screening.
“My understanding was he passed the test, then he fought and then after he passed the test, he did not smoke,” Gracie said. “What we think happened is the exertion of the fight affected the test and that’s why he tested positive.”
Bennett disagrees.
“It’s obvious once he provided us a negative one he started smoking again,” he said.
This marks Diaz’s third time testing positive for marijuana metabolites. He was fined and suspended for the infraction in 2007 and again in 2012.
Gracie said he is not surprised and does not think it’s a big story.
“It’s not a shocker,” Gracie said. “His DNA is THC, let’s face it. No one is surprised by that. I’m disappointed by it. It’s just a distraction. It sucks. I don’t want any distractions. The guy is such a brilliant fighter. I’d rather be talking about how skilled he is.”
Diaz has a medical marijuana license in his home state of California, Gracie said. Gracie said nothing Diaz is doing is illegal according to law. But marijuana is prohibited by athletic commissions in competition. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported Wednesday that Diaz did not disclose any medical marijuana use in the last month.
“He doesn’t take pain medications,” Gracie said. “When he’s in pain after a workout, he likes to smoke marijuana. It calms him down and relieves the pain in his body. It’s his way to naturally deal with pain and other problems.”
While the Diaz test failure isn’t much of a stunner, Silva’s situation is. Silva tested positive in a Jan. 9, out-of-competition test for two performance-enhancing drugs: drostanolone and androsterone. Drostanolone is an anabolic steroid and androsterone is a steroid hormone.
Both Silva and Diaz have been temporarily suspended by the NAC and face further discipline in upcoming hearings, likely in March or April. Overturning the fight to a no-contest will also be on the table and Gracie said it should be that “at the very least.”
Gracie called Silva being on steroids “scary.” Diaz fights normally at welterweight and moved up to middleweight to face Silva. Gracie said Diaz weighed 190 pounds on fight night and Silva was probably well over 200.
“Definitely one guy had an advantage he should not have had,” Gracie said. “He already enjoyed a weight advantage. We agreed to that. The other part we didn’t agree to.”
Gracie believes that the positive test absolutely affects Silva’s legacy. Silva is regarded as the greatest UFC champion of all time and held the middleweight title for seven years.
“Well how many times did he not get caught?” Gracie said. “That question is gonna be there. Was that real natural Bruce Lee-like talent or was it enhanced by cheating? That’s the question people are gonna have and it tarnishes your legacy. It’s not a good thing to do that stuff.”
Much worse than smoking weed as far as Gracie is concerned.
“I think the public knows Nick smokes marijuana,” he said. “He obviously wasn’t stoned during the fight.”
Additional reporting by Ariel Helwani.
Nick Diaz no-showed UFC 183 open workouts. He also almost didn’t make the actual fight.
Diaz was not licensed to compete against Anderson Silva on Saturday night until the week of the fight, MMAFighting.com has learned. Diaz was not able to provide a clean drug sample to the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) until “days before” the bout, his coach Cesar Gracie said. NAC executive Bob Bennett confirmed the information Wednesday.
Diaz then tested positive for marijuana metabolites in a post-fight drug test, as Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday. Bennett said the amount of marijuana metabolites in Diaz’s system was 300 ng/ml — double the threshold of 150 ng/ml.
Fighters who have failed tests previously must re-apply for licenses with the NAC before being allowed to compete again. Diaz had popped for weed twice before in Nevada. The process to get re-licensed requires submitting documentation of a clean drug test. Gracie said Diaz was not able to do so until the 11th hour. Bennett said he believes the paperwork came in Jan. 28, three days before UFC 183.
“It’s not an anomaly,” Bennett said. “We do get them at the last second. We’d prefer not to, because it creates problems. But don’t think we didn’t contact the promoters. We did contact the promoters. We said, ‘We need a clean bill of health from Nick or he isn’t fighting.'”
According to Gracie, Diaz failed several tests before passing the one that was submitted to the commission last week. The positive tests were not submitted to the commission, so Bennett said he has no records of them. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Marijuana is not prohibited by the NAC out of competition, so Diaz faced no penalties leading up to the bout.
Diaz will face discipline since that is an in-competition test. Anything inside a 12-hour window before and after the fight is considered in-competition.
Gracie said they were confident Diaz would pass the test before the fight and get licensed. However, he is confused as to how Diaz passed a drug test before the fight, did not smoke after it and then failed the post-fight screening.
“My understanding was he passed the test, then he fought and then after he passed the test, he did not smoke,” Gracie said. “What we think happened is the exertion of the fight affected the test and that’s why he tested positive.”
Bennett disagrees.
“It’s obvious once he provided us a negative one he started smoking again,” he said.
This marks Diaz’s third time testing positive for marijuana metabolites. He was fined and suspended for the infraction in 2007 and again in 2012.
Gracie said he is not surprised and does not think it’s a big story.
“It’s not a shocker,” Gracie said. “His DNA is THC, let’s face it. No one is surprised by that. I’m disappointed by it. It’s just a distraction. It sucks. I don’t want any distractions. The guy is such a brilliant fighter. I’d rather be talking about how skilled he is.”
Diaz has a medical marijuana license in his home state of California, Gracie said. Gracie said nothing Diaz is doing is illegal according to law. But marijuana is prohibited by athletic commissions in competition. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported Wednesday that Diaz did not disclose any medical marijuana use in the last month.
“He doesn’t take pain medications,” Gracie said. “When he’s in pain after a workout, he likes to smoke marijuana. It calms him down and relieves the pain in his body. It’s his way to naturally deal with pain and other problems.”
While the Diaz test failure isn’t much of a stunner, Silva’s situation is. Silva tested positive in a Jan. 9, out-of-competition test for two performance-enhancing drugs: drostanolone and androsterone. Drostanolone is an anabolic steroid and androsterone is a steroid hormone.
Both Silva and Diaz have been temporarily suspended by the NAC and face further discipline in upcoming hearings, likely in March or April. Overturning the fight to a no-contest will also be on the table and Gracie said it should be that “at the very least.”
Gracie called Silva being on steroids “scary.” Diaz fights normally at welterweight and moved up to middleweight to face Silva. Gracie said Diaz weighed 190 pounds on fight night and Silva was probably well over 200.
“Definitely one guy had an advantage he should not have had,” Gracie said. “He already enjoyed a weight advantage. We agreed to that. The other part we didn’t agree to.”
Gracie believes that the positive test absolutely affects Silva’s legacy. Silva is regarded as the greatest UFC champion of all time and held the middleweight title for seven years.
“Well how many times did he not get caught?” Gracie said. “That question is gonna be there. Was that real natural Bruce Lee-like talent or was it enhanced by cheating? That’s the question people are gonna have and it tarnishes your legacy. It’s not a good thing to do that stuff.”
Much worse than smoking weed as far as Gracie is concerned.
“I think the public knows Nick smokes marijuana,” he said. “He obviously wasn’t stoned during the fight.”
The hits just keep on coming for UFC 184.
Yancy Medeiros is injured and had to pull out of his fight with Tony Ferguson on Feb. 28 in Los Angeles, the UFC announced Tuesday. Filling in will be veteran Gleison Tibau.
Just last week, the UFC 1…
Yancy Medeiros is injured and had to pull out of his fight with Tony Ferguson on Feb. 28 in Los Angeles, the UFC announced Tuesday. Filling in will be veteran Gleison Tibau.
Just last week, the UFC 184 main event of Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort for the middleweight title was scrapped when Weidman got hurt and previously a big middleweight fight between Ronaldo Souza and Yoel Romero was canceled after Souza came down with pneumonia.
Medeiros (11-2, 1 NC) is coming off two straight submission finishes and seemed to be the perfect stylistic matchup for a fun fight with Ferguson (17-3), who has won four straight, including a third-round submission over Abel Trujillo at UFC 181 on Dec. 6.
Tibau (33-10) is one of the most solid and consistent lightweights in UFC history. The Brazilian just beat Norman Parke by split decision at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver last month. Tibau has the most wins in UFC lightweight history (16), a total that is tied for third most in the organization all time.
UFC 184 at Staples Center will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano. The co-main event pits debuting star Holly Holm against Raquel Pennington in a women’s bantamweight contender bout.
