Tag: USADA

UFC Fighters React To Marijuana Policy Change

UFCIn a long awaited change in policy, the UFC have deemed that athletes who test positive for carboxy-THC will no longer face suspensions or fines (H/T MMA Junkie). Carboxy-THC is the ingredient in marijuana that has led to huge amounts of controversy within MMA. Nick Diaz was notoriously handed a 5 year suspension in 2015, […]

UFC

In a long awaited change in policy, the UFC have deemed that athletes who test positive for carboxy-THC will no longer face suspensions or fines (H/T MMA Junkie). Carboxy-THC is the ingredient in marijuana that has led to huge amounts of controversy within MMA. Nick Diaz was notoriously handed a 5 year suspension in 2015, for testing postive following his fight against Anderson Silva.

More recently UFC fighters such as Jamahal Hill have had their wins overturned, whilst Tim Elliot and Luis Pena have been fined percentages of their fight purses. Hill was quick to react to the news, with the undefeated prospect looking to get his win back.

However the change in policy has not had a positive impact on all fighters. Niko Price has revealed that there has been no change to his suspension, following his draw with Donald Cerrone.

Angela Hill stated that she believes the new policy should serve as an example to the state athletic commissions as well.

Other fighters such as Lauren Murphy, Louis Smolka and Randy Costa have also voiced their approval of move away from the archaic doping policy.

What are your thoughts on this change in policy?

UFC, USADA Remove Marijuana From Violation In Anti-Doping Policy Change

UFCThe UFC, along with anti-doping agency, USADA have made quite a significant, well overdue change to its anti-doping policy this afternoon.  Per a press release from the United States Anti-Doping Agency in conjunction with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a positive test for marijuana will no longer result in an anti-doping violation, even if the amount […]

UFC

The UFC, along with anti-doping agency, USADA have made quite a significant, well overdue change to its anti-doping policy this afternoon. 

Per a press release from the United States Anti-Doping Agency in conjunction with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a positive test for marijuana will no longer result in an anti-doping violation, even if the amount present in the previous test limit is above the previous threshold. In a welcome modification for many athletes under the UFC’s banner, the psychoactive ingredient present in marijuana, carboxy-THC will no longer result in a flag for a test sample. 

Releasing a statement ahead of the promotion’s triple-header return to ‘Fight Island’ which kicks off this weekend with UFC Fight Island 7 — USADA detailed how a positive test for marijuana will no longer result in a flag, “unless additional evidence exists that an athlete used it intentionally for performance-enhancing purposes.“

“While we want to continue to prevent athletes from competing under the influence of marijuana, we have learned that blood and/or urine levels of carboxy-THC have little-to-no scientific correlation to impairment,” UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky said in a statement released this afternoon. “THC is fat soluble, meaning that once ingested, it is stored in fatty tissues and organs in the body and can be released back into the blood or urine, sometimes long after ingestion.“

Novitzky detailed how when it comes to marijuana use from the promotion’s athletes, USADA and the UFC are now more concerned with usage during the day of a fight rather than usage which may have occurred days or weeks prior to competition. 

“The bottom line is that in regards to marijuana, we care about what an athlete consumed the day of a fight, not days or weeks before a fight, which has often been the case in our historic positive THC cases.“

Novitzky continued and noted how after discussions with athletes, the main use of marijuana came with combatants who were experiencing anxiety, sleeping issues, as well as pain and discomfort. 

“Based on my informal discussion with athletes, there’s a significant number of percentage of athletes that choose to use marijuana, many for legitimate reasons outside of recreational,” Novitzky said. “Many use it for pain control, anti-anxiety, to sleep, in lieu of more dangerous, more addictive drugs, so hopefully this being the first step in opening that up so that an athlete on Wednesday night of fight week instead of going to a Vicodin because their knee hurts and they can’t sleep can use a little bit of cannabis and get to sleep and have that pain control. It has no effect whatsoever on a competition on Saturday night, so it’s the right move, and I’m really excited about this revision and the specific policy change.“

Finally, Novitzky detailed how the anti-doping agency is currently in discussion with numerous athletic commission in the hope to make the revision to the anti-doping policy a uniform revision across the board.

“I would caution everybody to temper their enthusiasm about this because we still have the commission factor here, but we are actively working on that,” Novitzky told MMA Junkie. “We are educating, informing, lobbying them, and I hope not too far in the near future that we can get uniformity across all the rules as it relates to marijuana because I think it would certainly be a benefit to athletes.“

Jesse Ronson Announces 20-Month USADA Suspension

Jesse RonsonJesse Ronson is going to have a wait a while before making his return to the octagon following a big win in July. Ronson shocked MMA fans when he returned to the UFC to stop Nicolas Dalby in the first round at UFC on ESPN 14. The Canadian’s first UFC run ended after he found […]

Jesse Ronson

Jesse Ronson is going to have a wait a while before making his return to the octagon following a big win in July.

Ronson shocked MMA fans when he returned to the UFC to stop Nicolas Dalby in the first round at UFC on ESPN 14. The Canadian’s first UFC run ended after he found himself on the wrong end of three straight split-decisions and a failed weight cut. Ronson earned his way back to the UFC following a strong run on the regional scene, despite falling short in two PFL fights. The finish left fans excited to see what Ronson would accomplish in his next outing, but now it appears that they’re going to have to wait.

Ronson took to his Facebook page to announce that he had failed an out-of-competition drug test with USADA, after testing positive for Metandienone. While he initially denied any wrongdoing and appealed the punishment, he has now accepted the 20-month suspension.

“Hello everyone. It is with great surprise, and sadness that I have to inform you that I have received a suspension from USADA for the detection of a banned substance in my sample provided to them during an out of competition test. This has turned my world upside down as it’s a 20 month suspension. I haven’t slept much and have been sick to my stomach as I would never knowingly or purposelytake a banned substance. The substance in question is Metandienone. USADA has been working with me for the last few weeks trying to find the reason for my failed test as they (USADA) along with me and my team believe its from a tainted supplement. After many hours and days of researching metandienone and finding that many over the counter supplements in the past have been contaminated with the substance such as Vitamin C, multi-vitamains, magnesium, bcaa’s, creatine and many others. I have sent what I believed to be the tainted supplement in to be tested for 1000USD to a testing facility, which it came back clean, thus I am at a loss as all the other supplements I was taking at the time have been consumed and I cannot send them in for testing to prove my innocence. Despite the high cost of 1000usd per supplement I would send them all in to clear my name and get a lesser suspension if I could but I can’t. Those who really know me know I would never take such a thing, as UFC is my dream job and goal and I have sacrificed so much of my time and life to achieve this goal and knowing USADA is very efficient and can drug test you at anytime and anywhere (blood and urine samples collected) and you have to provide your whereabouts 24/7 so they can come test you whenever. I would never jeopardize this by taking a steroid. I’m a supporter of USADA and its testing and I believe in the system to keep a clean fair sport. I won’t quit or give up and I will continue to grind and train and improve during this suspension time. I want to thank USADA for everything they do in keeping things safe and I will serve this sentence/punishment and turn it into a positive for myself and my life and make some changes to my supplementation so this doesn’t happen again. As a man of my word I strongly support the term “if you’re caught and you did it man up to it”. -I did not knowingly or purposely take this banned substance. Thank you everyone for reading. I’m devastated by this so bare with me if I don’t respond to comments or messages.”

The length of Ronson’s suspension means he won’t be eligible to return to the octagon until July 2022. Given that he failed an out-of-competition test, it is unlikely that the outcome of his fight against Dalby will be changed.

Do you think USADA was too harsh on Jesse Ronson? Let us know!

NSAC Suspends Four Fighters For Positive Drug Tests

We all heard of four UFC fighters failing drug tests this past June. We were given their names, Jamahal Hill, Luis Pena, Tim Elliott, and Deron Winn, but their suspensions had yet to be determined. ESPN broke the news earlier today. Marc Andre-Barriault was also flagged, but was not sentenced due to cooperating with USADA […]

We all heard of four UFC fighters failing drug tests this past June. We were given their names, Jamahal Hill, Luis Pena, Tim Elliott, and Deron Winn, but their suspensions had yet to be determined. ESPN broke the news earlier today.

Marc Andre-Barriault was also flagged, but was not sentenced due to cooperating with USADA to prove it to be a tainted supplement. Hill, Pena, and Elliott all tested positive for marijuana, while Winn tested positive for amphetamines.

Hill’s first-round TKO victory over Klidson Abreu was overturned to a no contest, he was suspended six months, and fined 15% of his purse.

Both Elliott and Pena were suspended four-and-a-half months and suspended 15% of their purse. They each lost their respective fights, Elliott lost to Brandon Royval via submission (arm-triangle choke), Pena lost to Khama Worthy via submission (guillotine choke), so neither of their records change.

Lastly, Winn was suspended for nine months and fined $1,800 for his drug test failure at UFC 248. Winn lost to Gerald Meerschaert via submission (rear naked choke), so his record remains the same as well.

The most surprising name on this list has got to be Deron Winn, and because of what he tested positive for. It’s hard to imagine him doing something like that, he’s a lifelong athlete, he trains at AKA, it’s a wonder.

Winn did miss weight for his fight prior, and amphetamines certainly do aid in weight loss. Or maybe he just had a little cold and took some cough medicine, which will make you pop for that.

The dates of the tests is the starting date of their sentence. So basically, whenever their fight was, add their sentence to that and that’s how long they can’t fight for. Elliott and Hill both fought on May 30, Pena fought on June 27, and Winn fought on March 7.

It’s unfortunate seeing someones victory taken away just because of marijuana, but it’s great to see at least none of these names popped for a tainted supplement. That’s been a huge problem for a lot of fighters recently.

Daniel Cormier Withdraws From USADA Testing Pool, Cementing Retirement Plans

CormierDaniel Cormier is officially a retired UFC fighter. Entering his trilogy with Stipe Miocic at UFC 252, Cormier said it would be his retirement fight win or lose. He wanted to reclaim the heavyweight title and leave the sport on top like so many fighters don’t do. Yet, that did not happen as he lost […]

Cormier

Daniel Cormier is officially a retired UFC fighter.

Entering his trilogy with Stipe Miocic at UFC 252, Cormier said it would be his retirement fight win or lose. He wanted to reclaim the heavyweight title and leave the sport on top like so many fighters don’t do. Yet, that did not happen as he lost by decision to Miocic and after the fight didn’t give a definitive answer if he was retired.

Now, however, he has since confirmed he is retired and even has told the UFC to remove him from the rankings and the USADA testing pool.

“He told us today to take him out of USADA and take him out of the rankings,” White said at the DWCS 31 post-fight news conference (via MMAJunkie). “Doesn’t get any more official than that.”

Daniel Cormier unfortunately ends his career on a two-fight losing streak after suffering a decision loss and a TKO loss to Miocic. ‘DC’ will, however, go down as one of the best fighters of all-time. He won the Strikeforce heavyweight title along with winning the UFC’s light heavyweight and heavyweight belts.

With Cormier leaving the USADA testing pool his time as a fighter is over. For Dana White, he is just glad DC will remain a commentator so he will still be part of the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I had such a great time with him, but he’s such a great commentator, so, he’ll still be around and he’ll be with this company forever, so it’s not like we’re losing him and I’ll never see him again.”

Cormier was even on commentary for Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series. So, he didn’t even take that much of a break following his heartbreaking loss to Miocic just a couple of weeks earlier.

What will be your greatest Daniel Cormier memory from his MMA career?

Paulo Costa Responds To Israel Adesanya’s Steroid Allegations

UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya and No. 2 ranked middleweight contender Paulo Costa have been going at it nonstop on social media for some time now. ‘The Last Stylebender’ had some comments for the challenger that he shared with Submission Radio yesterday. The champion was asked what his thoughts were on the Paulo Costa he […]

UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya and No. 2 ranked middleweight contender Paulo Costa have been going at it nonstop on social media for some time now. ‘The Last Stylebender’ had some comments for the challenger that he shared with Submission Radio yesterday.

The champion was asked what his thoughts were on the Paulo Costa he saw in the ESPN interview a few days ao, the first time they were able to speak to each other. Adesanya answered that he wishes that this fight happened before Covid-19, because then he could see him face to face leading up to it.

He also mentioned that he asked Costa a question in the ESPN interview. Denis Shkuratov asked, ‘what kinda stuff were you asking him?’ Adesanya responded, ‘The last time he got tested.’ Kacper Rosolowski then asked, ‘what did he say?’

“He couldn’t give me a straight answer, put it that way. I told him I got tested twice in the last three weeks, twice in the last three weeks I got tested. They tried to catch me off guard. So it was the first two times, or the first time they ever tested me at night.

“And yeah, where’s your (USADA) t-shirt? I’ve been tested over 30 times, or almost 30 times. So where’s your t-shirt? I know what it’s like, and I’m from Lagos City Nigeria, I know what it’s like in certain countries where money talks. Where, if you flash your gun, people act a certain way. I know what it’s like.

“And you’ve heard stories about Brazil with people running up in gyms to test people, and they’re not complying because of certain things, but yea, I just know what it’s like.

“But I don’t mind. I just like bringing that up because I want it to be known, because I said on record, I’m gonna pop him before USADA pops him. I’m gonna beat him, and then when he gets caught by USADA down the line, (I’ll) be like yep, I still whooped his ass even when he was on steroids. That’d make a great story.”

Costa has been playing along with Adesanya’s allegations, claiming he hasn’t even been tested, and it’s pretty entertaining.

It’s never cool to make assumptions about a fighter being on performance enhancing drugs, but this isn’t the first time Adesanya, or others have mentioned this with Costa’s name. He was flagged by USADA after his UFC 212 fight with Oluwale Bamgbose for using an IV to rehydrate. People also use IV’s to help aid in flushing banned substances from their systems.

Again, it’s not fair to make assumptions. But when you cut that much weight (40 lbs) and you’re all solid muscle, have that much power, and that good of endurance, it is hard not to put it into question.

Nonetheless, this is only the second fight in UFC history where a title is on the line and both the champion and challenger are undefeated, and they’ll settle their differences at UFC 253 on September 26.

Do you agree with the champions claim that Costa is a dirty fighter?