Tag: NSAC

Chael Sonnen Attempts to Explain Failed Drug Test Via Last-Second Interview With ‘Jay Mohr Sports’


(“Thank God there aren’t random drug tests in @EASPORTSUFC” — former CP writer Jason Moles dropping truth bombs.)

Just moments ago, word was handed down that Chael Sonnen had failed a random drug test administered last month (you know, the same one that he verbally executed Wanderlei Silva for skipping out on), and had been pulled from his UFC 175 fight against Vitor Belfort as a result. Being the master of spin-control that Sonnen is, The American Gangster attempted to get out in front of the story by appearing on comedian Jay Mohr’s sports radio show and explaining himself before the ESPN story broke. Attempted being the point of emphasis here.

Instead, Sonnen partook in a rushed interview that not only failed to beat the ESPN story out of the gate, but left as many questions as it answered. Mohr also chimed in at one point that Sonnen should use the next 30 days before his hearing to get “loaded up on steroids,” so there’s that to look forward to as well.

Sonnen’s statement, along with a full transcription (via MMAFighting) is after the jump. 


(“Thank God there aren’t random drug tests in @EASPORTSUFC” — former CP writer Jason Moles dropping truth bombs.)

Just moments ago, word was handed down that Chael Sonnen had failed a random drug test administered last month (you know, the same one that he verbally executed Wanderlei Silva for skipping out on), and had been pulled from his UFC 175 fight against Vitor Belfort as a result. Being the master of spin-control that Sonnen is, The American Gangster attempted to get out in front of the story by appearing on comedian Jay Mohr’s sports radio show and explaining himself before the ESPN story broke. Attempted being the point of emphasis here.

Instead, Sonnen partook in a rushed interview that not only failed to beat the ESPN story out of the gate, but left as many questions as it answered. Mohr also chimed in at one point that Sonnen should use the next 30 days before his hearing to get “loaded up on steroids,” so there’s that to look forward to as well.

Sonnen’s statement, along with a full transcription (via MMAFighting) is after the jump. 

They changed the ruling in Nevada. Earlier this year they did away with what’s known as TRT — Testosterone Replacement Therapy — in Nevada, and I was on that. So when they changed the rule, we all had to go through a transition phase. For me, for the transition, I had to take a couple of things: one is called clomiphene and the other is called HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). So this is what we did. And I took my boards out of the water in the meantime, meaning I didn’t fight, I didn’t ask for a license. You had to wait to cross this bridge, if you will.

In the interim, they did a test. I tested positive for these things, which I should have. I took them. They were in my system. That wasn’t a surprise. These aren’t anabolics, these aren’t steroids, these aren’t performance-enhancers. None of that stuff. But they have deemed that they are banned substances.

What’s interesting, in my case, we’re out of competition. These are not things that I showed up with on gameday. This is out of competition due to a rule that they changed. So this is kind of an odd spot for me.

What happens is they do out-of-competition testing, and the lab that they went to is the USADA [United States Anti-Doping Agency] lab. Now the USADA lab is the greatest lab in the world. It’s a very sensitive test. We had done our own tests, at our own labs, and we thought that everything was out of the system. These were not secrets that I took this stuff. This is what you have to take when you’re coming off testosterone. But any rate, it was picked up on their test. Now they can handle that however they want. They can look at that and go, Yeah, this makes sense to us, or they can say, You know what? We don’t like this. And they can do either one. They’re the commission. I just got to be a reactor and live with it. The confusing part is for a non-anabolic, non-steroid, non-performance enhancing agent that is perfectly legal that I need for a healthy life, essentially they’re saying you gotta choose between health and sport.

It’s very tough for me too because I did a number of interviews talking about what I’ve done, whether it’s on UFC Tonight, Canada, UK, Brazil … I couldn’t have told any more people. So when this came back they said, Why did this come back in your system? I said, Why did it come back in my system? Because I took it. I’ve been taking it. I had to take it because you guys changed the rules. So I did feel a little bit frustrated in that regard. And they may listen to me, they may agree with me, but the way this works is I now have to go to a hearing. And that hearing gets kicked down the road who knows how many days. I have a fight in 30 days, there’s no way the hearing will be before then.

There is a little bit of a confusion on the rules. It’s kind of tough where you’re like, Oh, really? This is a banned substance? Where do we find that? Who exactly do we go to for clarity on this? And the commission has always been very clear. Whether it’s the Nevada Commission, and now there is a new guy at the helm [Bob Bennett], but the old executive director [Keith Kizer], I’ve got quotes I downloaded right off the Internet, but he has been very clear that there is a clear distinctions between gameday and out-of-competition testing. Now you could never take an anabolic or anything, I understand that. This is not an anabolic. This is not a steroid. These are just the substances I had to go to transition, who’s also having — this is a very private part of my life I wasn’t planning to share with anybody — but I’m having fertility issues.

The next scheduled meeting of the NSAC is scheduled for June 17th, where Vitor Belfort will also have his hearing for his failed drug test back in February. It has yet to be confirmed whether or not Sonnen’s hearing will go down on the same date.

Sonnen is set to appear on FOX Sports at any moment to further explain his failed test, so we will have more on this story as it develops. In the meantime, I’m just going to go lay my head down and think of how hilarious it would be if Jon Jones offered to step in and save UFC 175 by fighting Wanderlei Silva on a day’s notice.

–J. Jones

The Officiating Was So Bad on ‘TUF 19? Last Night That It May Have Literally Changed the Sport

(Props: TheUltimateFighter on YouTube)

If you’ve been skipping this season of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn, you’re missing out on some elite-level pumpkin carving and cross-dressing. Also, universally-reviled referee Steve Mazzagatti made another controversial decision during last night’s episode, and jeopardized his career in the process.

First, Mazzagatti deducted a point from Roger Zapata for an illegal “12-to-6” elbow during the “Sudden Victory” round of his fight against Ian Stephens. Though Zapata was warned about throwing 12-to-6 elbows before the point-deduction, the shot that actually led to the penalty was verrrrry questionable. (Skip to 0:54-0:58 in the above video and tell us what you think, then brace yourself for Team Penn assistant coach Mark Coleman roaring gibberish in anger.)

UFC president Dana White stormed out of the gym rather than watch the fight continue. If only it ended there, guys. If only. Here’s what happened next, as described by FightOpinion:


(Props: TheUltimateFighter on YouTube)

If you’ve been skipping this season of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn, you’re missing out on some elite-level pumpkin carving and cross-dressing. Also, universally-reviled referee Steve Mazzagatti made another controversial decision during last night’s episode, and jeopardized his career in the process.

First, Mazzagatti deducted a point from Roger Zapata for an illegal “12-to-6″ elbow during the “Sudden Victory” round of his fight against Ian Stephens. Though Zapata was warned about throwing 12-to-6 elbows before the point-deduction, the shot that actually led to the penalty was verrrrry questionable. (Skip to 0:54-0:58 in the above video and tell us what you think, then brace yourself for Team Penn assistant coach Mark Coleman roaring gibberish in anger.)

UFC president Dana White stormed out of the gym rather than watch the fight continue. If only it ended there, guys. If only. Here’s what happened next, as described by FightOpinion:

“At the end of the third round, two of the judges had scored the round a 9-9 round but one judge scored it a 10-8 round in favor of Stephens. When Mazzagatti announced the winner of the fight, he raised Zapata’s hand and called him “Ian Zapata.” Everyone went crazy. Mazzagatti tried a do-over and said “Roger Zapata” but the UFC editors made sure to leave the mistake in. White blew a gasket and said it was impossible for the judges to give Zapata the win given that he lost a point in the third round. Dana claims that since only one judge declared a winner after the third round that the judges were asked to pick an overall winner (PRIDE-style) and they picked Zapata.”

During his Wednesday appearance on UFC Tonight before the episode aired, Dana White said that the TUF fiasco resulted in some positive changes within the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Though he kept his language vague, keep in mind that Mazzagatti has yet to work a UFC card in 2014, and former NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer resigned at the beginning of this year. To put it another way, people might have lost their jobs over a goddamned episode of TUF. As if we need another reason to put this show out of its misery…

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

NSAC Can’t Release Vitor Belfort’s Random Drug Test Results

The past 24 hours of so have been wild ones for UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort.  The Nevada State Athletic Commission rocked the fight community on Thursday, when they unanimously voted to approve the ban of testosterone replacement therapy—a move that was supported by the UFC.  Early this morning, FOX Sports 1 broke the news […]

The past 24 hours of so have been wild ones for UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort.  The Nevada State Athletic Commission rocked the fight community on Thursday, when they unanimously voted to approve the ban of testosterone replacement therapy—a move that was supported by the UFC.  Early this morning, FOX Sports 1 broke the news […]

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BREAKING: Nevada State Athletic Commission Bans TRT Exemptions, Effective Immediately


(“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” / Photo via Getty)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission struck a blow for fair, healthy MMA competition today, voting for an immediate ban on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Therapeutic usage exemptions (TUE) will no longer be granted to fighters, even for those who had been approved to use hormone therapy in the past. Furthermore, the NSAC will push other states to ban TRT as well, and won’t honor the TUEs approved by other state commissions.

Today’s hearing began with testimony from NSAC consulting physician Dr. Timothy Trainor, who explained the rarity of hypogonadism, and argued that if a competitor truly has hypogonadism, the athletic commission would be placing him at risk by allowing him to fight. (Hello, exactly!)

After discussing the recent anti-TRT letter from the Association of Ringside Physicians — and acknowledging that monitoring every TRT user requires more resources than they can commit — NSAC commissioner Skip Avansino motioned to ban TRT usage/exemptions in Nevada. With supporting votes from commissioners Pat Lundvall and Bill Brady, the motion quickly passed.

And so, MMA’s biggest PED loophole has been closed by the country’s most influential athletic commission — and other state athletic commissions may be forced to follow suit. Vitor Belfort will have to fight clean in Nevada, along with everybody else who previously had doctor’s notes for testosterone.

It’s a good day for the sport. We’ll update you with any major developments that follow.


(“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” / Photo via Getty)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission struck a blow for fair, healthy MMA competition today, voting for an immediate ban on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Therapeutic usage exemptions (TUE) will no longer be granted to fighters, even for those who had been approved to use hormone therapy in the past. Furthermore, the NSAC will push other states to ban TRT as well, and won’t honor the TUEs approved by other state commissions.

Today’s hearing began with testimony from NSAC consulting physician Dr. Timothy Trainor, who explained the rarity of hypogonadism, and argued that if a competitor truly has hypogonadism, the athletic commission would be placing him at risk by allowing him to fight. (Hello, exactly!)

After discussing the recent anti-TRT letter from the Association of Ringside Physicians — and acknowledging that monitoring every TRT user requires more resources than they can commit — NSAC commissioner Skip Avansino motioned to ban TRT usage/exemptions in Nevada. With supporting votes from commissioners Pat Lundvall and Bill Brady, the motion quickly passed.

And so, MMA’s biggest PED loophole has been closed by the country’s most influential athletic commission — and other state athletic commissions may be forced to follow suit. Vitor Belfort will have to fight clean in Nevada, along with everybody else who previously had doctor’s notes for testosterone.

It’s a good day for the sport. We’ll update you with any major developments that follow.

BREAKING: Nevada State Athletic Commission Bans TRT Exemptions, Effective Immediately


(“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” / Photo via Getty)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission struck a blow for fair, healthy MMA competition today, voting for an immediate ban on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Therapeutic usage exemptions (TUE) will no longer be granted to fighters, even for those who had been approved to use hormone therapy in the past. Furthermore, the NSAC will push other states to ban TRT as well, and won’t honor the TUEs approved by other state commissions.

Today’s hearing began with testimony from NSAC consulting physician Dr. Timothy Trainor, who explained the rarity of hypogonadism, and argued that if a competitor truly has hypogonadism, the athletic commission would be placing him at risk by allowing him to fight. (Hello, exactly!)

After discussing the recent anti-TRT letter from the Association of Ringside Physicians — and acknowledging that monitoring every TRT user requires more resources than they can commit — NSAC commissioner Skip Avansino motioned to ban TRT usage/exemptions in Nevada. With supporting votes from commissioners Pat Lundvall and Bill Brady, the motion quickly passed.

And so, MMA’s biggest PED loophole has been closed by the country’s most influential athletic commission — and other state athletic commissions may be forced to follow suit. Vitor Belfort will have to fight clean in Nevada, along with everybody else who previously had doctor’s notes for testosterone.

It’s a good day for the sport. We’ll update you with any major developments that follow.


(“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” / Photo via Getty)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission struck a blow for fair, healthy MMA competition today, voting for an immediate ban on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Therapeutic usage exemptions (TUE) will no longer be granted to fighters, even for those who had been approved to use hormone therapy in the past. Furthermore, the NSAC will push other states to ban TRT as well, and won’t honor the TUEs approved by other state commissions.

Today’s hearing began with testimony from NSAC consulting physician Dr. Timothy Trainor, who explained the rarity of hypogonadism, and argued that if a competitor truly has hypogonadism, the athletic commission would be placing him at risk by allowing him to fight. (Hello, exactly!)

After discussing the recent anti-TRT letter from the Association of Ringside Physicians — and acknowledging that monitoring every TRT user requires more resources than they can commit — NSAC commissioner Skip Avansino motioned to ban TRT usage/exemptions in Nevada. With supporting votes from commissioners Pat Lundvall and Bill Brady, the motion quickly passed.

And so, MMA’s biggest PED loophole has been closed by the country’s most influential athletic commission — and other state athletic commissions may be forced to follow suit. Vitor Belfort will have to fight clean in Nevada, along with everybody else who previously had doctor’s notes for testosterone.

It’s a good day for the sport. We’ll update you with any major developments that follow.