Get Lifted: UFC Raises Marijuana Threshold for International Events, Nick Diaz’s Unretirement Surely Imminent

Man…Bryan Caraway is gonna be piiiiiiissssseeddd when he gets word of this little development.

You might not have heard about this, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel was held in Las Vegas over the weekend, and among the primary issues discussed was that of the acceptable threshold for marijuana metabolites in a given fighter’s system that the UFC currently allows, specifically on an international level. You see, since the UFC usually acts as its own regulatory body in foreign countries, an issue has recently emerged regarding the discrepancy between their acceptable level for metabolites  — 50 ng/mL — and the newly-deemed acceptable level of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) — 150 ng/mL.

Fortunately, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner revealed during the panel that the promotion’s threshold will now be raised to meet the level of WADA’s. He spoke with MMAJunkie, then presumably passed one to the left hand side:

“When we self-regulate around the world, we are going to go the WADA standard of 150. So we’re starting that immediately.”

Ratner also told MMAjunkie.com the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission – or Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) – which regulates UFC events in Brazil, has also agreed to the same standard and will make the change at next week’s UFC on FUEL TV 10 event in Fortaleza. Brazilian commission officials later confirmed their decision.

You may be asking yourself, “What exactly does this threshold change mean for UFC fighters moving forward?”

Man…Bryan Caraway is gonna be piiiiiiissssseeddd when he gets word of this little development.

You might not have heard about this, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel was held in Las Vegas over the weekend, and among the primary issues discussed was that of the acceptable threshold for marijuana metabolites in a given fighter’s system that the UFC currently allows, specifically on an international level. You see, since the UFC usually acts as its own regulatory body in foreign countries, an issue has recently emerged regarding the discrepancy between their acceptable level for metabolites  – 50 ng/mL — and the newly-deemed acceptable level of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) — 150 ng/mL.

Fortunately, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner revealed during the panel that the promotion’s threshold will now be raised to meet the level of WADA’s. He spoke with MMAJunkie, then presumably passed one to the left hand side:

“When we self-regulate around the world, we are going to go the WADA standard of 150. So we’re starting that immediately.”

Ratner also told MMAjunkie.com the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission – or Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) – which regulates UFC events in Brazil, has also agreed to the same standard and will make the change at next week’s UFC on FUEL TV 10 event in Fortaleza. Brazilian commission officials later confirmed their decision.

You may be asking yourself, “What exactly does this threshold change mean for UFC fighters moving forward?” Well, the basic idea is this: By raising the threshold to 150 ng/mL, the UFC is aiming to catch fighters who use marijuana in competition, rather than the days (or in Pat Healy’s case, weeks) before a fight.

Somewhere out there, Matt Riddle is beating his kids in a fit of bitter rage.

While the debate over whether or not marijuana should even be tested for in the first place continues to rage on, the change suggests a shift in mindset regarding marijuana’s place in combat sports in general. It’s also one that Ratner hopes the Nevada State Athletic Commission will adopt in the near future as well:

I want to commend the committee. This goes along with the UFC’s thinking, as well as my own, that we’re moving progressively to the future, and times are changing.

As for the ongoing TRT debate? Well, the commission is trying to work that out as well, proposing a decrease in the acceptable T/E ratio amongst fighters from 6-to-1 to 4-to-1. No comment.

–J. Jones