Tag: drug testing

Following Cung Le Debacle, Dana White Calls For an End to Out-of-Competition Drug Testing


(White, seen here introducing the UFC’s latest catchphrase, “Whaddya gon’ do?” Photo via Getty.)

Of all the things that went so, so wrong for the UFC in 2014, the biggest positive that could be taken away was easily the promotion’s decision to begin drug-testing its athletes in house and year-round. As luck would have it, 2014 also went down as one of the druggiest years in MMA since the PRIDE days (allegedly). Random, out-of-competition drug testing was an expensive but necessary step forward and one that helped quell the near-constant questions regarding the legitimacy of the organization’s product. And it was working, dammit.

That was, until the UFC started farming out their drug testing to fly-by-night laboratories like the one that handled Cung Le’s sample. You know, the one which led to a 12-month suspension for the high-profile middleweight (that was quickly overturned) and played a huge role in Le’s request to be released of his contract as well as his class-action lawsuit against the UFC that followed? Yeah, that one.

Well put your minds at ease, Potato Nation, because the UFC’s days of out-of-competition drug testing is over. HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!

Dana White broke the news during a media session on Thursday afternoon at the MGM Grand. Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter has the details:

“Our legal team completed screwed that up. We f—-d it up, and we will f–k it up again. That’s what the commission is there for,” he said.

White continued by saying that, while they have come to the realization that the promotion cannot oversee its own drug testing program, Zuffa will instead give more money to athletic commissions to help fund additional testing.

“What we’ll do is we’ll help fund it, so they can do more drug testing,” he said. “Our legal department screwed that whole thing up. We’ve got no business handling the regulation.”


(White, seen here introducing the UFC’s latest catchphrase, ”Whaddya gon’ do?” Photo via Getty.)

Of all the things that went so, so wrong for the UFC in 2014, the biggest positive that could be taken away was easily the promotion’s decision to begin drug-testing its athletes in house and year-round. As luck would have it, 2014 also went down as one of the druggiest years in MMA since the PRIDE days (allegedly). Random, out-of-competition drug testing was an expensive but necessary step forward and one that helped quell the near-constant questions regarding the legitimacy of the organization’s product. And it was working, dammit.

That was, until the UFC started farming out their drug testing to fly-by-night laboratories like the one that handled Cung Le’s sample. You know, the one which led to a 12-month suspension for the high-profile middleweight (that was quickly overturned) and played a huge role in Le’s request to be released of his contract as well as his class-action lawsuit against the UFC that followed? Yeah, that one.

Well put your minds at ease, Potato Nation, because the UFC’s days of out-of-competition drug testing is over. HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!

Dana White broke the news during a media session on Thursday afternoon at the MGM Grand. Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter has the details:

“Our legal team completed screwed that up. We f—-d it up, and we will f–k it up again. That’s what the commission is there for,” he said.

White continued by saying that, while they have come to the realization that the promotion cannot oversee its own drug testing program, Zuffa will instead give more money to athletic commissions to help fund additional testing.

“What we’ll do is we’ll help fund it, so they can do more drug testing,” he said. “Our legal department screwed that whole thing up. We’ve got no business handling the regulation.”

While this may seem like a crushing blow to the UFC’s legitimacy at first, we should all probably recognize that the drug testing methods the UFC was using prior to this decision were shaky at best. Several top scientists in the field already brought into question the legitimacy of Le’s test, stating that the method used to determine his HGH levels (which were 18 times the limit, BTW) differed from those used by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and therefore should not be considered. (via BloodyElbow):

There are currently two different tests being used by the World Anti­ Doping Agency (WADA) to detect hGH use. The hGH “Isoform Differential Immunoassays” test is used to determine the presence of exogenous (meaning from an outside source) hGH in the system. That test is used in conjunction with a test for serum IGF­1 levels.

The other hGH test is known as the Biomarker test. According to the Hong Kong lab report reviewed by this reporter, none of these sports doping hGH tests were conducted on Cung Le’s blood sample.

Instead, the Hong Kong lab took a reading of Le’s total hGH concentration, which by itself cannot determine if the subject has used exogenous hGH or not.

For a male who has fasted and rested for 12 hours prior to giving a blood sample to be tested, [proper protocol], the normal range is 0­5 ng/mL. For an athlete giving a sample after strenuous activity such as a fight, the expected range is 20­-30 ng/mL. Le’s reading was a bit below 20 ng/mL, which is actually lower than the expected post­-exercise reference range. 

I don’t know where to begin, really. White’s reasoning for calling an end to random drug-testing (“We’ll f*ck it up again”) is about as laughably dismissive of a much bigger problem as you can get. Rather than, you know, attempt to improve their flawed but effective system of fighter-testing, the UFC is essentially shrugging its shoulders over how incompetently their billion dollar organization is run and hoping that throwing some money at the problem will make everything hunky-dory. “That’s what the commission is there for?” You mean those same incompetent, underfunded commissions that you endlessly bitch about not being able to even appoint a proper set of judges? That’s who’s going to swoop in and save the day?

Of course, White is more than likely glossing over the bigger reason behind the decision: Money. Carbon Isotope Ratio tests (the drug test of choice by VADA) cost between $700 and $1000 a piece, making them four to five times more expensive than the average T:E tests. Because of their cost, most athletic commissions can’t afford to use them on every athlete competing on a given fight card, let alone on a year-round basis. Without getting into how bad a year the UFC had money-wise, well, let’s just say they are probably in the “cutting-corners” phase of operations. And if they can’t afford to pay one of their fighters more than 8k to show, how much do you think they’ll be willing to donate to these commissions to make sure that their athletes are properly tested?

In short: The UFC is f*cking out, and a state of blissful ignorance is back in. If Chris Weidman wasn’t a dead man walking before, he sure as hell is now.

–J. Jones

The Hong Kong Lab That Handled Cung Le’s Drug Test Is Somewhat Less Than Legit


(“Tastes fine to me.” / Photo via Getty)

When the UFC suspended Cung Le for 12 months following a positive test result for excessive Human Growth Hormone, Le’s team immediately cast doubts on the UFC’s testing methods. Notably, his sample was sent to a non-WADA approved laboratory, and was destroyed afterwards. A new report from MMAJunkie reveals more information about the lab in question, which doesn’t sound like it would be anybody’s first choice to test the athletes of a major sports promotion. Here’s the important stuff:

The Hong Kong Functional Medical Testing Center (HKFMTC) resides in Hong Kong’s southern Yau Tsim Mong District, about an hour’s ferry ride from the Macau’s Cotai Arena where August’s UFC Fight Night 48 was held.

The company’s website offers to test your metabolic function, examine hair for heavy metals or nails for drugs of abuse, for example. It also offers a service called “autism medical testing.” The company opened its doors in February, according to an online records search, and recently put out a job posting for its marketing department.

Following the Aug. 23 event, a phlebotomist hired by the UFC took blood samples from headliners Cung Le and Michael Bisping immediately after their fight and shipped them to the HKFMTC, the promotion told MMAjunkie…It’s unclear how the HKFMTC tested the samples, and the UFC declined to answer any additional questions on the procedures used in connection with the event. On the drug testing firm’s website, there is no specific mention of testing for human growth hormone, though the company does offer a test of the endocrine system including “growth factor analysis.” It’s certain, though, that HKFMTC is not accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which sets guidelines used for HGH testing. The nearest WADA-accredited lab is in Beijing, a four-hour flight from Macau.


(“Tastes fine to me.” / Photo via Getty)

When the UFC suspended Cung Le for 12 months following a positive test result for excessive Human Growth Hormone, Le’s team immediately cast doubts on the UFC’s testing methods. Notably, his sample was sent to a non-WADA approved laboratory, and was destroyed afterwards. A new report from MMAJunkie reveals more information about the lab in question, which doesn’t sound like it would be anybody’s first choice to test the athletes of a major sports promotion. Here’s the important stuff:

The Hong Kong Functional Medical Testing Center (HKFMTC) resides in Hong Kong’s southern Yau Tsim Mong District, about an hour’s ferry ride from the Macau’s Cotai Arena where August’s UFC Fight Night 48 was held.

The company’s website offers to test your metabolic function, examine hair for heavy metals or nails for drugs of abuse, for example. It also offers a service called “autism medical testing.” The company opened its doors in February, according to an online records search, and recently put out a job posting for its marketing department.

Following the Aug. 23 event, a phlebotomist hired by the UFC took blood samples from headliners Cung Le and Michael Bisping immediately after their fight and shipped them to the HKFMTC, the promotion told MMAjunkie…It’s unclear how the HKFMTC tested the samples, and the UFC declined to answer any additional questions on the procedures used in connection with the event. On the drug testing firm’s website, there is no specific mention of testing for human growth hormone, though the company does offer a test of the endocrine system including “growth factor analysis.” It’s certain, though, that HKFMTC is not accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which sets guidelines used for HGH testing. The nearest WADA-accredited lab is in Beijing, a four-hour flight from Macau.

The UFC repeatedly has voiced its support for the anti-doping measures taken by state athletic commissions. This past year, it began bankrolling out-of-competition testing. But in hiring the Hong Kong company to look for HGH, the promotion failed to adhere to the testing standards recognized by the commissions it intends to follow.

WADA’s protocols on HGH testing are intended for WADA-accredited labs, which are utilized by the Nevada, California, and the New Jersey athletic commissions, among others. In order to attain such accreditation, the labs must demonstrate their ability to perform the complex procedure involved in finding HGH and must follow strict procedures set by the regulatory body in the collection and testing of blood samples needed to find the drug. There are also defined steps for adverse findings and what happens when results are challenged.

Notably, the protocol advises that drug samples should be frozen in the case where an athlete wants a sample retested. It also advises that HGH testing be done out of competition to keep the element of surprise…

According to Le’s rep, Gary Ibarra, the UFC told him a retest of Le’s blood sample was impossible because it had been destroyed. Ibarra said the fighter’s next step is undetermined.

It seems obvious that the UFC used HKFMTC for the Macau card due to the lab’s closer proximity to the event, compared to the WADA-accredited lab in Beijing. In retrospect, that was a mistake — although it’s unlikely that the UFC will ever admit to that, or change its stance on Le’s suspension. And while Le’s pre-fight appearance set off alarm bells among fans, his suspension should be nullified if the testing procedures were substandard.

What if this was a criminal trial, and Cung Le was arrested based on some evidence that had been discovered…but when his defense asked to see that evidence, the prosecution told him, “Well, we destroyed the evidence, but trust us, the evidence said that you committed this crime and you should definitely go to jail”? That would never fly. Doper or not, Le should have the right to defend himself. And going forward, the UFC needs to make sure that it’s placing its drug testing in the most capable hands — not the most convenient.

Cung Le and Michael Bisping to Undergo Enhanced Drug Testing; Le Defends His Suspiciously Jacked Physique


(Cung Le in November 2011, and Cung Le in August 2014. The only thing that hasn’t changed is his underwear.)

Over the weekend, UFC middleweight Cung Le posted a photo of himself flexing after an intense workout — and immediately raised the suspicions of armchair endocrinologists around the globe. Despite his athletic gifts, Le hasn’t always been the leanest or most muscular fighter out there; in fact, he’s looked rather soft at times, relatively speaking. But now, at the age of 42, he’s showing up looking this jacked? In a sport where aging veterans are getting popped for PEDs left and right, MMA fans were understandably dubious.

In an apparent response to the accusations being flung at Le, the UFC has announced that Cung Le and his opponent Michael Bisping will undergo enhanced drug testing for their UFC Fight Night 48 headlining bout this Saturday in Macau. The testing will be performed at the UFC’s expense, and will include blood-testing, which would theoretically identify non-steroid PEDs like human growth hormone (HGH) and recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO).

Of course, we probably won’t get the results of these tests until weeks after the fact, which does absolutely nothing to prevent potential cheaters from competing. (I kind of agree with Mark Bocek here; if all these drug tests are timed so that big fights still get to proceed as scheduled, it doesn’t reflect well on the UFC’s priorities, or how serious they are about eradicating the PED epidemic.)

But it might be a moot point in this case, because Cung Le doesn’t plan on failing a drug test anytime soon…


(Cung Le in November 2011, and Cung Le in August 2014. The only thing that hasn’t changed is his underwear.)

Over the weekend, UFC middleweight Cung Le posted a photo of himself flexing after an intense workout — and immediately raised the suspicions of armchair endocrinologists around the globe. Despite his athletic gifts, Le hasn’t always been the leanest or most muscular fighter out there; in fact, he’s looked rather soft at times, relatively speaking. But now, at the age of 42, he’s showing up looking this jacked? In a sport where aging veterans are getting popped for PEDs left and right, MMA fans were understandably dubious.

In an apparent response to the accusations being flung at Le, the UFC has announced that Cung Le and his opponent Michael Bisping will undergo enhanced drug testing for their UFC Fight Night 48 headlining bout this Saturday in Macau. The testing will be performed at the UFC’s expense, and will include blood-testing, which would theoretically identify non-steroid PEDs like human growth hormone (HGH) and recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO).

Of course, we probably won’t get the results of these tests until weeks after the fact, which does absolutely nothing to prevent potential cheaters from competing. (I kind of agree with Mark Bocek here; if all these drug tests are timed so that big fights still get to proceed as scheduled, it doesn’t reflect well on the UFC’s priorities, or how serious they are about eradicating the PED epidemic.)

But it might be a moot point in this case, because Cung Le doesn’t plan on failing a drug test anytime soon. When asked about the photo by an MMAJunkie reporter, Le went on a four-minute rant explaining why he looked so rocked in the now-infamous photo, and why he didn’t look so hot in the past. Instead of transcribing the whole damn thing, here’s the short version…

– Cung says he doesn’t look like that all the time; the photo was just the result of good lighting and a hard-ass workout where he sweated out six-and-a-half pounds. That being said, he has good genetics, as evidenced by his old photos.

– It’s unfair to judge him by the softer physique he sported during his previous UFC fights. He had a cracked rib coming into his bout against Wanderlei Silva, and an injured foot coming into the Rich Franklin fight, both of which prevented him from training hard and led to the over-consumption of chocolate. Since then, he’s hired a nutritionist for the first time in his career.

– He’s naturally veiny. And compared to Luke Rockhold or even Michael Bisping, he’s tiny. “I’m just lean…so, get over it!”

– Unrelated, but I couldn’t help but notice the way Elizabeth Phillips was staring at Le throughout his interview. We may have found Cung Le’s #1 fan.

CagePotato Ban: Saying You Don’t Care If Your Opponents Are Using PEDs


(Bagautinov’s doping wasn’t enough to earn him a victory — but that’s no reason to let him off the hook. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

Now that random drug testing is nailing MMA fighters on a regular basis, the truth is inescapable: PEDs have become the sport’s most urgent and embarrassing problem. But not every fighter is an anti-drug crusader like Tim Kennedy and Georges St. Pierre. Before his star-making beatdown of Diego Brandao at UFC Fight Night 46 on Saturday, Conor McGregor told MMAJunkie how he really feels about performance-enhancing drugs:

“I don’t really care about that stupid s–t,” McGregor said. “I’m just doing my thing. I’m just performing and getting better. I don’t care what anyone else does….Take whatever you want, I’m still going to whoop your ass.”

His words were nearly identical to what former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson said about steroids last year, and also echoed those of UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who expressed similar sentiments on The MMA Hour recently, after it came out that his last opponent Ali Bagutinov was using EPO going into the fight:

“I don’t care if my opponents are cheating or not,” Johnson said. “I train my butt off to fight the man who is put in front of me whether he’s on steroids or not. I want to play on a level playing field, but if they knew about it beforehand and didn’t stop it, at the same time, I took care of business. No big deal.”

Except it is a big deal, and saying otherwise makes MMA look like a joke.

Look, I get it. Claiming that you don’t care if your opponents are doping scores you badass points, and it can endear you to the segment of the MMA fanbase that really doesn’t care about the ongoing scourge of PEDs. (“I like Conor because he doesn’t bitch about drug-testing like these other pussies. Let ’em take what they want!” — Darryl T. Justbleedguy)


(Bagautinov’s doping wasn’t enough to earn him a victory — but that’s no reason to let him off the hook. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

Now that random drug testing is nailing MMA fighters on a regular basis, the truth is inescapable: PEDs have become the sport’s most urgent and embarrassing problem. But not every fighter is an anti-drug crusader like Tim Kennedy and Georges St. Pierre. Before his star-making beatdown of Diego Brandao at UFC Fight Night 46 on Saturday, Conor McGregor told MMAJunkie how he really feels about performance-enhancing drugs:

“I don’t really care about that stupid s–t,” McGregor said. “I’m just doing my thing. I’m just performing and getting better. I don’t care what anyone else does….Take whatever you want, I’m still going to whoop your ass.”

His words were nearly identical to what former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson said about steroids last year, and also echoed those of UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who expressed similar sentiments on The MMA Hour recently, after it came out that his last opponent Ali Bagutinov was using EPO going into the fight:

“I don’t care if my opponents are cheating or not,” Johnson said. “I train my butt off to fight the man who is put in front of me whether he’s on steroids or not. I want to play on a level playing field, but if they knew about it beforehand and didn’t stop it, at the same time, I took care of business. No big deal.”

Except it is a big deal, and saying otherwise makes MMA look like a joke.

Look, I get it. Claiming that you don’t care if your opponents are doping scores you badass points, and it can endear you to the segment of the MMA fanbase that really doesn’t care about the ongoing scourge of PEDs. (“I like Conor because he doesn’t bitch about drug-testing like these other pussies. Let ‘em take what they want!” — Darryl T. Justbleedguy)

But that “Do what thou wilt” stance towards cheating — especially when it’s expressed by champions and top contenders — is exactly the kind of thing that will keep mixed martial arts ghettoized as a small-time sideshow. At a time when MMA’s drug problem is reaching the ears of mainstream sports fans, we don’t need the UFC’s most public faces to play devil’s advocate and argue that doping is acceptable behavior.

To paraphrase the 24th Thesis: Do you half-wits realize that athletes of other sports do not behave this way? Is Yasiel Puig doing interviews claiming that A-Rod should be able to take as many steroids as he wants? Have you ever heard Peyton Manning say, “yeah, the Chargers can grab our face masks all game, we’re still gonna whoop ‘em on Sunday.” Of course not, because why in God’s name would a professional athlete support cheating? Why wouldn’t you care that your opponents are competing with an unfair advantage, if you’re trying to win?

By the estimates of every MMA fighter who has dared to speak out about it, at least half of MMA fighters use performance enhancing drugs. Some fighters, like Matt Serra and Krzysztof Soszynski, have stated that only a small percentage of professional fighters don’t do some form of illegal doping. (“I don’t give a [expletive] if it’s happening in baseball,” Serra said. “But when a guy can kick your head off, someone can get hurt. There’s a chance for serious bodily harm.”) But if you make a stink about it, you’re a troublemaker, and if you pretend that PEDs aren’t really a big deal, you’re a superhero. I mean, after all, it’s a fist fight, y’know? Chemicals don’t give you technique or heart, and those steroids aren’t gonna help you when I touch your chin. Ugh.

Random question: If Demetrious Johnson lost to Ali Bagautinov, would he feel the same way about PEDs — that doping is “no big deal”? And if he tried to defend Bagautinov’s EPO-usage after that loss, how ridiculous would he sound?

MMA fighters are a different breed — for better or worse — and the tough-guy culture of the sport leads generally-rational fighters to say some boneheaded shit. While I’m sure that many MMA fans would be fine with the sport returning to its barely regulated Golden Age (PRIDE NEVA DIE…OR TEST FOR STEROIDS!), anybody who wants to see this sport become universally respected as a legitimate enterprise should be publicly against cheating in all of its forms. Especially the athletes themselves, who this issue actually affects directly.

So we hereby drop the CagePotato Ban on MMA fighters saying they don’t care if their opponents are doping. Steroids and other performance enhancing drugs have become a potential sport-killer, and honestly, you’re not helping.

– Ben Goldstein

Wednesday Links: Tito Ortiz Gets Probation for DUI, Lawler vs. Ellenberger Subject to Enhanced Drug Testing, Tiny Hamsters Eating Tiny Burritos + More


(Gervinho: The lovechild of Tyra Banks and Klingon Worf. Check out more awful soccer hairstyles at HolyTaco.com.)

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(Gervinho: The lovechild of Tyra Banks and Klingon Worf. Check out more awful soccer hairstyles at HolyTaco.com.)

Some must-see content from our friends and partners. Worth your clicks, or your money back…

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Robbie Lawler, Jake Ellenberger to Undergo Enhanced Drug Testing Program Ahead of UFC 173 (ESPN)

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Brian Stann Becomes the Latest Former Fighter to Rally Against MMA’s “Inadequate” Drug-Testing Policies


(The face of MMA’s anti-PED crusade, ladies and gentlemen.) 

Does it say more about the UFC or its athletes that classy, universally-respected guys like Georges St. Pierre and Brian Stann only feel comfortable discussing their gripes with the organization’s drug-testing policies after they have stepped away from the sport? It’s hard to say for sure, but in any case, Stann has followed suit with GSP, first lamenting the sport’s drug issues as a “major part” of why he retired earlier this month before further explaining himself during an appearance on The MMA Hour yesterday.

While Stann refused to name names, he was quick to admit that MMA’s lackadaisical drug-testing has made it easy for many a fighter to cycle on and off PED’s over the years — a trend that will continue to plague the sport until a change is made:

I think the time when you retire coming off a loss and then you say that, what I didn’t want to do was discredit any of my former opponents. You know, specifically seeing that Wanderlei (Silva) was my last fight, I didn’t want to come off like, ‘Hey, I’m making excuses. The only people that beat me were people on drugs.’ I don’t know any of that for a certainty. There’s one time when I fought a guy on TRT when it was allowed, and that’s the only time that I could say substantially somebody was taking something. But, it was a factor.

I’m a clean fighter. I’m 33 years old, and I have seen, in my own training, and in talking and knowing guys in the inner circle, I’ve known what guys are not on, and when they cycle on it. You can feel the difference in the gym and what big a difference it makes, and I do think there are a number of guys who are using just because the testing currently by our athletic commissions is inadequate.


(The face of MMA’s anti-PED crusade, ladies and gentlemen.) 

Does it say more about the UFC or its athletes that classy, universally-respected guys like Georges St. Pierre and Brian Stann only feel comfortable discussing their gripes with the organization’s drug-testing policies after they have stepped away from the sport? It’s hard to say for sure, but in any case, Stann has followed suit with GSP, first lamenting the sport’s drug issues as a “major part” of why he retired earlier this month before further explaining himself during an appearance on The MMA Hour yesterday.

While Stann refused to name names, he was quick to admit that MMA’s lackadaisical drug-testing has made it easy for many a fighter to cycle on and off PED’s over the years — a trend that will continue to plague the sport until a change is made:

I think the time when you retire coming off a loss and then you say that, what I didn’t want to do was discredit any of my former opponents. You know, specifically seeing that Wanderlei (Silva) was my last fight, I didn’t want to come off like, ‘Hey, I’m making excuses. The only people that beat me were people on drugs.’ I don’t know any of that for a certainty. There’s one time when I fought a guy on TRT when it was allowed, and that’s the only time that I could say substantially somebody was taking something. But, it was a factor.

I’m a clean fighter. I’m 33 years old, and I have seen, in my own training, and in talking and knowing guys in the inner circle, I’ve known what guys are not on, and when they cycle on it. You can feel the difference in the gym and what big a difference it makes, and I do think there are a number of guys who are using just because the testing currently by our athletic commissions is inadequate.

It’s not exactly a revelation to anyone who’s been following MMA for more than a week that the lack of random drug-testing is perhaps the biggest issue facing the sport today. Not helping this plight is NSAC chairman Francisco Aguilar’s confirmation earlier this week that each random drug test costs the NSAC between $35,000 and $45,000 to execute.

Without help from the UFC, Aguilar stated, random drug testing simply can’t be fit into the NSAC’s budget. And if you expect the same people who regularly pay someone $8,000 to get their brains smashed in to pay six times that much for what some (falsely) consider an extraneous test, think again, brotha’.

But there you have it: the fastest-growing sport in the world is neck deep in a drug-testing crisis that can only be solved by money it apparently doesn’t have. I wish I could do something other than throw my hands in the air, but I’m just as confounded as Stann is here. Any suggestions, Nation?

–J. Jones