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GSP Formally Enrolls In USADA Drug-Testing Program Ahead Of Potential UFC Return
With all of the talk lately regarding the potential Octagon return of legendary former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, who has called out a laundry list of champions and top stars in multiple weight-classes, there has been very little concrete evidence of him actually beginning the technical process of returning — until now.
St-Pierre was one of the more high-profile fighters to publicly speak out about the growing, out-of-control performance-enhancing drug epidemic in the sport of mixed-martial-arts, which many feel ultimately led to the UFC out-sourcing and implementing a brand new, zero-tolerance Anti-Doping Policy for all fighters on their active roster, including out-of-competition, random drug tests — anywhere, any place, anytime.
Coincidentally enough, Nick Diaz, whom GSP spoke of in the aforementioned interview, just finished serving an 18-month suspension handed down by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) for a failed drug test (marijuana metabolites), which was actually initially a five-year sentence that was eventually reduced after an overwhelming showing of support from the MMA community.
During the same interview, “Rush” announced that he has enrolled in the mandatory USADA testing program that all fighters coming out of retirement must take part in, which thus far only former UFC Heavyweight Champion and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) crossover athlete Brock Lesnar has received an exemption from when he came out of MMA retirement as an active WWE-contracted star who was given permission by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to make a surprise return against Mark Hunt at the landmark UFC 200 pay-per-view event last month.
Ironically enough, Lesnar, as the first person to receive special consideration regarding the new USADA policy in the UFC, would go on to fail both his out-of-competition and day-of, in-competition drug tests for banned substances, as the mandatory two-year suspension wouldn’t exactly matter to him once he returns back to his “day job” in WWE, which goes down one day after the big UFC 202 event with Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2, as he faces Randy Orton at WWE’s annual SummerSlam pay-per-view at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
GSP, who does plan to stay around, told Bloody Elbow’s Ram Gilboa this week that he absolutely wants no special consideration regarding the new Anti-Doping Policy, and has submitted a formal request to enter the USADA drug testing pool so he can be cleared and eligible to return to the Octagon, possibly as soon as later this year.
I don’t want to be an exception, because I was very outspoken about performance-enhancing drugs,” St-Pierre told Gilboa. “It would be bad for my reputation if I would have an exemption — I don’t want to have a free pass, I want to be like everybody else. That’s why I’ll be starting the process Aug 10. I don’t have any fight yet, but it’s gonna happen now, because I’m getting tested, if I’m getting tested it’s for a reason.”
St-Pierre last fought at UFC 167 back on November 16, 2013, where he successfully defended his UFC Welterweight Championship against dangerous knockout artist and powerhouse wrestler Johny Hendricks, earning a widely contested split decision after five closely fought rounds.
With all of the talk lately regarding the potential Octagon return of legendary former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, who has called out a laundry list of champions and top stars in multiple weight-classes, there has been very little concrete evidence of him actually beginning the technical process of returning — until now.
St-Pierre was one of the more high-profile fighters to publicly speak out about the growing, out-of-control performance-enhancing drug epidemic in the sport of mixed-martial-arts, which many feel ultimately led to the UFC out-sourcing and implementing a brand new, zero-tolerance Anti-Doping Policy for all fighters on their active roster, including out-of-competition, random drug tests — anywhere, any place, anytime.
Coincidentally enough, Nick Diaz, whom GSP spoke of in the aforementioned interview, just finished serving an 18-month suspension handed down by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) for a failed drug test (marijuana metabolites), which was actually initially a five-year sentence that was eventually reduced after an overwhelming showing of support from the MMA community.
During the same interview, “Rush” announced that he has enrolled in the mandatory USADA testing program that all fighters coming out of retirement must take part in, which thus far only former UFC Heavyweight Champion and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) crossover athlete Brock Lesnar has received an exemption from when he came out of MMA retirement as an active WWE-contracted star who was given permission by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to make a surprise return against Mark Hunt at the landmark UFC 200 pay-per-view event last month.
Ironically enough, Lesnar, as the first person to receive special consideration regarding the new USADA policy in the UFC, would go on to fail both his out-of-competition and day-of, in-competition drug tests for banned substances, as the mandatory two-year suspension wouldn’t exactly matter to him once he returns back to his “day job” in WWE, which goes down one day after the big UFC 202 event with Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2, as he faces Randy Orton at WWE’s annual SummerSlam pay-per-view at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
GSP, who does plan to stay around, told Bloody Elbow’s Ram Gilboa this week that he absolutely wants no special consideration regarding the new Anti-Doping Policy, and has submitted a formal request to enter the USADA drug testing pool so he can be cleared and eligible to return to the Octagon, possibly as soon as later this year.
I don’t want to be an exception, because I was very outspoken about performance-enhancing drugs,” St-Pierre told Gilboa. “It would be bad for my reputation if I would have an exemption — I don’t want to have a free pass, I want to be like everybody else. That’s why I’ll be starting the process Aug 10. I don’t have any fight yet, but it’s gonna happen now, because I’m getting tested, if I’m getting tested it’s for a reason.”
St-Pierre last fought at UFC 167 back on November 16, 2013, where he successfully defended his UFC Welterweight Championship against dangerous knockout artist and powerhouse wrestler Johny Hendricks, earning a widely contested split decision after five closely fought rounds.
