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There is a new reason to be skeptical about the recent transformation of Conor McGregor according to one PED commentator. Fans have been buzzing with speculation about McGregor since his injury in the rubber match with Dustin Poirier, with questions ab…
There is a new reason to be skeptical about the recent transformation of Conor McGregor according to one PED commentator. Fans have been buzzing with speculation about McGregor since his injury in the rubber match with Dustin Poirier, with questions about how he will be able to recover and what he will look like when…
Continue Reading PED Commentator Shares New Theory About Conor McGregor at MMA News.
The UFC’s anti-doping partnership with USADA drug testing has caught many fighters using banned substances in its three-year existence. It’s also caused a massive amount of controversy and question marks due to some perceived inconsistencies. A large part of the uncertainty stemmed from the fact USADA announced when a fighter was flagged for a ‘potential’ […]
The post UFC Makes Major Changes To USADA Drug-Testing Policy appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
The UFC’s anti-doping partnership with USADA drug testing has caught many fighters using banned substances in its three-year existence.
It’s also caused a massive amount of controversy and question marks due to some perceived inconsistencies. A large part of the uncertainty stemmed from the fact USADA announced when a fighter was flagged for a ‘potential’ violation long before the case was actually. That resulted in many a fighter’s name being dragged through the mud only to see them sort out the case.
Oftentimes, fighters with previous potential violations would receive a small suspension or no punishment. The damage was done to a fighter’s reputation, however. Many would be branded cheats even if they were ultimately exonerated of any true PED usage. The court of public opinion is quick to convict in today’s fast-paced, social media-driven world.
Major changes will be coming to the UFC’s program with USADA as a result. UFC Chief Legal Officer Hunter Campbell confirmed to ESPN that the UFC will now only announce a fighter failing a drug test when the case is resolved:
“If an athlete has a positive drug test, we aren’t putting them in a fight until their case is resolved — but what we can do is give the athlete an opportunity to adjudicate their issue without the public rushing to judgment. Announcing the test result creates this narrative around the athlete before people understand the facts.”
The UFC will reportedly follow the path of how Olympic athletes’ USADA cases are announced. Obviously, a significant determining factor was the number of cases that resulted in the fighter being exonerated in some way. Putting that in perspective, UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky said that 62 athlete cases have been adjudicated by USADA since the inception of its partnership with the UFC in 2015.
An astounding 21 of those cases were determined to be of unintentional use, mostly involving the all-too-familiar tainted supplement. This has affected many top-level fighters. Legendary former middleweight champion Anderson Silva was recently cleared of a second failure due to a tainted supplement. He was branded a cheat and his legacy tarnished first.
UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg was also flagged for a potential violation last year. Cyborg did infamously fail for stanozolol during her Strikeforce days, and the public rushed to condemn her. She was cleared due to a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) shortly thereafter. Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos was also flagged and ultimately proved his innocence due to a tainted supplement. But he lost a year of his fighting career before he was.
Josh Barnett was also flagged and provisionally suspended. He spent well over a year in painstaking litigation only to have his lawyers prove he was flagged for unintentional use. The process was so hard to deal with he asked for and received his release from the UFC. Barnett does have a lengthy history with real PED usage, but he was found to be innocent in this case.
Regardless of a fighter’s background or if they were flagged for a banned substance or tainted supplement, the case should definitely be resolved before it becomes public knowledge.
Campbell said the UFC is looking to avoid that outright period of initial doubt and condemnation:
“Part of the feedback Jeff and I have received from the athletes is, ‘I would have appreciated the opportunity to adjudicate this, so the story could be I tested positive, a full investigation was conducted and it was found the use was unintentional,’” Campbell said. “That story is very different than giving somebody a six-month window, where they are trying to defend themselves against accusations they are a cheater.”
It’s a great idea and one many in MMA have called for quite some time. Another issue being put under scrutiny is the severity with which it punishes those flagged for tainted supplements.
Novitzky said that there will still be punishments for unknowingly ingesting banned PEDs and other substances. But those instances won’t be given the same major punishment as obvious and intentional cheaters:
“This program is meant to punish and catch intentional cheaters,” Novitzky said. “None of us are saying there will be no liability when it comes to unintentional use, but to punish that level of liability in the same manner of someone who was knowingly using something is not what this program was meant to do.”
Will the above changes lead to USADA’s anti-doping efforts with the UFC being lent more credibility?
The post UFC Makes Major Changes To USADA Drug-Testing Policy appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
In the main event of UFC Fight Night 110 last night (June 10, 2017) in Auckland, New Zealand, 43-year-old Mark Hunt got back in the win column with a fourth round TKO victory over the previously surging Derrick Lewis. Hunt clearly has some gas left in the tank, and it doesn’t look like “The Super […]
The post Mark Hunt Calls Out ‘Cheating Bum’ Alistair Overeem After UFC Fight Night 110 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
In the main event of UFC Fight Night 110 last night (June 10, 2017) in Auckland, New Zealand, 43-year-old Mark Hunt got back in the win column with a fourth round TKO victory over the previously surging Derrick Lewis. Hunt clearly has some gas left in the tank, and it doesn’t look like “The Super Samoan” is considering hanging his gloves up just yet:
“I don’t think so,” Hunt said at the post-fight press conference after being asked whether he was thinking about hanging up his gloves. “I like to get beat up. Shucks, there’s nothing else I’m good at. But I’ve got a couple of fights I want to finish. Why not see the contract out and then retire?”
Over the last year, Hunt has repeatedly made headlines in his fight against the use of performance-enhancing-drugs in mixed martial arts. He had his decision loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 200 last July changed to a no-contest after it was made clear that Lesnar had failed a pair of drug tests and he suffered a loss to Alistair Overeem, who has his own history with PEDs, this past March.
In regards to that, Hunt hasn’t forgotten about Overeem, who he labeled a ‘cheating bum’:
“He’s always going to be a cheating bum to me, regardless of whether he beat me,” Hunt said Saturday at the post-fight presser. “All of his achievements, you don’t know whether they’re done by steroids or not. Sorry, Alistair, you’re a cheat.”
Hunt is currently taking part in a legal battle with the UFC over Lesnar’s failed tests, and he personally feels as if more can be done by the promotion to eliminate PEDs from the sport.
In 2015, the UFC brought in the help of third party testing organization USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), but Hunt believes a stricter financial punishment must be put in place for fighters who test positive for banned substances:
“I think taking away the financial gains to start with,” Hunt said. “People say for me, it’s just a money grab. I think if you take away the financial incentive, then the cheaters will think twice. You take away the money, they wouldn’t do it. It’s just a clause in the contract saying the cheater doesn’t benefit at all. Because right now, it pays to cheat.”
Do you agree with “The Super Samoan” here?
The post Mark Hunt Calls Out ‘Cheating Bum’ Alistair Overeem After UFC Fight Night 110 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.
Jon Jones speaks on his recent PED issues & UFC.
The post WATCH: Jon Jones Explains Why He Tested Positive For PEDs appeared first on Cagepotato.
Jon Jones speaks on his recent PED issues & UFC.
It’s no secret that Jon Jones has fallen from grace in the world of MMA. A drink and drive car crash and later testing positive for PEDs – getting him into some trouble with the UFC.
Jon Jones has been relatively quiet after that – but now he’s finally opened up about the whole series of events. In this recent interview Jon Jones finally reveals on why and how he tested positive for PEDs. This may shock you. Do you believe him?
The post WATCH: Jon Jones Explains Why He Tested Positive For PEDs appeared first on Cagepotato.
It’s been almost three years since we’ve seen all-time great former welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre step into the Octagon. The legendary record-holder left the grueling grind of MMA behind after a highly controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, vacating the belt due to personal reasons. He’s done little more than
The post Georges St. Pierre Enters USADA Testing Protocol appeared first on LowKick MMA.
It’s been almost three years since we’ve seen all-time great former welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre step into the Octagon.
The legendary record-holder left the grueling grind of MMA behind after a highly controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, vacating the belt due to personal reasons. He’s done little more than merely tease his potential return in the time since, but recently there have been noteworthy signs he would finally lace up the four ounce gloves yet again.
Citing a need to get his Under Armor sponsorship deal in accord with the UFC’s own apparel agreement with Reebok, St. Pierre told Ariel Helwani that a return was all but imminent on a recent episode of “The MMA Hour.” There are also the concerns over the promotion’s uncertain future under new ownership group WME-IMG, who purchased the UFC for $4 billion only days after the supposed blockbuster UFC 200.
A third aspect of St. Pierre’s return, the overarching use of performance-enhancing drugs in fighting, was also at the forefront of his semi-retirement and whether it would become official or not. In the last year, the UFC has implemented new and stringent drug-testing in conjunction with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that is catching fighters using banned substances of many kinds at an alarming pace.
So it seems the champ is slowly but surely overcoming the obstacles to his official return. A clear example of that is the fact that GSP revealed that he has kickstarted his return by beginning the process of entering into the USADA testing pool in an interview with Bloody Elbow:
“I want to. My agent is negotiating with the UFC, they had an offer, we made a counteroffer, you know that’s how business goes. And then we heard a day after that UFC sold for $4 billion dollars. So we waited for a few days, to see what was going on, because even some of the employees were afraid of losing their job – even some of the high ranking people in the UFC were afraid. We wanted to let the management to take care of their own company first, and then see what happens.
“Now we’re talking again and I’m starting the USADA process to be tested, I’m starting it Aug 10. in Las Vegas. Because to be eligible to fight you need to be tested.”
GSP was questioned about the controversial exemption Brock Lesnar was given when he returned to the UFC to face Mark Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 200, where he ultimately won but failed two drug tests (both in and out-of competition) for the estrogen blocker clomiphene. Because of his strong anti-PED stance, St. Pierre said he didn’t want to cut any corners as Lesnar did:
“Yeah exactly, but he had a free pass, I think it was an exemption of a month or something like that. But me, I don’t want to be an exception, because I was very outspoken about Performance Enhancing Drugs. 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.”
Several high-profile fights have been teased for GSP, from a middleweight title bout with Michael Bisping to a welterweight title fight with Tyron Woodley. Nothing is official as of yet, and while St. Pierre stated he does want to return, he also had to focus on the much-discussed topic of fighter treatment and pay in the UFC from the top down:
“Yeah. I would like to say, they need to make sure they take care and negotiate the problems. You know, I have a very good agent with me. The fighters, they complain they’re not getting paid a lot, they get exploited sometimes; The UFC runs a business, but it’s also the fault of a lot of the fighters – they accept any fight, they will sign anything. They have to look at their career as a business as well. They have to hire some confident people to do that job.
“I’m an athlete, my job is not negotiating, it’s not my field of expertise. I’m an emotional guy – it’s normal, a lot of athletes are, and we’re very susceptible to get our ego cut because of that. Dana White came out very often in public saying I’m this and that; I’m sure it’s also to play with my ego, to make me, for example, come out of retirement and say ‘Oh ok, I’ll fight for peanuts.’ No, I’m not like that. I know the game.
“That’s how it is, and I will never blame a fighter if he doesn’t fight me because he takes care of his own interest first, and prioritize the interests of his family first, that’s completely normal.”
Some strong words and opinion from the former champ, who seems to want a MMA return while simultaneously wanting to be a voice for fighters he feels have been treated poorly for all too long.
He could be just the voice they’re looking for.
The post Georges St. Pierre Enters USADA Testing Protocol appeared first on LowKick MMA.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the UFC’s third-party testing organization, has undoubtedly made an impact on the sport, as we’ve seen some of promotion’s biggest stars get popped for banned substances over the last year or so. Despite the ‘success’, if you consider it a success, of the testing so far, USADA will only […]
The post Jeff Novitzky: I Don’t Take Any Pleasure In USADA’s Success appeared first on LowKick MMA.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the UFC’s third-party testing organization, has undoubtedly made an impact on the sport, as we’ve seen some of promotion’s biggest stars get popped for banned substances over the last year or so. Despite the ‘success’, if you consider it a success, of the testing so far, USADA will only begin to ramp up testing as the year closes.
Recently speaking with MMAFighting.com, UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky said that USADA will test nearly 700 fighters in the third quarter of 2016 when the program will be fully implemented:
“We’re very happy with where the program is, considering we started from scratch,” said Novitzky, who gave a presentation on anti-doping and weight management at the ABC Conference. “I’m amazed the progress that we’ve had getting this off the ground. This will be the first quarter — the third quarter of 2016 — where we have a fully implemented program.”
While cleaning up the sport and creating a stricter drug testing program was the ultimate goal when the UFC partnered with USADA, Novitzky admits that he doesn’t necessarily get pleasure out of a fighter getting caught, although he does admit that fighters getting busted should open up the eyes of the rest of the roster:
“Let me be clear: Just because this is my program, those days and those occurrences are challenging,” he said. “I never want to see that happen. I don’t take any pleasure that the program is working, seeing that happen. Sometimes one or two of those needs to happen for everybody to open their eyes. If anybody had any reservations about the seriousness, about the independence of the program, that it doesn’t matter if you’re the first on the depth chart of the roster or the last you’re going to be treated the same under this program.”
What do you make of the USADA era thus far?
The post Jeff Novitzky: I Don’t Take Any Pleasure In USADA’s Success appeared first on LowKick MMA.