In the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) era, multiple UFC fighters have blamed a tainted supplement for a failed drug test, and, at times, the claim has been proven true. One fighter who falls into this category is Yoel Romero, who tested positive for a banned substance in 2015 but saw his suspension reduced when […]
In the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) era, multiple UFC fighters have blamed a tainted supplement for a failed drug test, and, at times, the claim has been proven true.
One fighter who falls into this category is Yoel Romero, who tested positive for a banned substance in 2015but saw his suspension reduced when it was proven that he had been taking a tainted supplement.
And now, according to a report from Forbes, “The Soldier of God” is suing the company that manufactured the supplement, which was Goldstar Performance Products.
The report stated the following:
In his complaint, Romero alleges that Goldstar carelessly and negligently “failed to maintain the production facility” and “knew” Shred Rx was contaminated with Ibutamoren. His claimed injuries include damage to his reputation and “the loss of the chance at a middleweight UFC title fight.”
Between 2013 and 2016, the former Olympian ran through the middleweight division, winning eight-straight fights, and taking out notable names like Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo Souza and Chris Weidman. He would then challenge Robert Whittaker for the interim 185-pound title at UFC 213 this past July, but he came up short, suffering a decision defeat.
Now, Romero will get another chance at interim gold, as he’s slated to meet ex-champion Luke Rockhold in the main event of UFC 221 next month in Perth, Australia. Whittaker was originally scheduled to defend his undisputed strap against Rockhold in the event’s headliner, but he was recently forced to withdraw with an injury.
Jessica Penne was handed an 18-month suspension by USADA, but it could have been worse. Penne faced a two-year ban from MMA after her biological passport came back with the presence of an anabolic steroid. The former Invicta FC champion helped figure o…
Jessica Penne was handed an 18-month suspension by USADA, but it could have been worse. Penne faced a two-year ban from MMA after her biological passport came back with the presence of an anabolic steroid. The former Invicta FC champion helped figure out what caused the test result, which helped cut the suspension to 18 […]
Jessica Penne won’t be fighting anytime soon after failing a drug test back in March 2017. Penne received an 18-month suspension from USADA due to the failed test, officials with the anti-doping said on Friday. USADA claims Penne tested positive for anabolic steroids during a test conducted on March 20, 2017. Fighters who test positive […]
Jessica Penne won’t be fighting anytime soon after failing a drug test back in March 2017. Penne received an 18-month suspension from USADA due to the failed test, officials with the anti-doping said on Friday.
USADA claims Penne tested positive for anabolic steroids during a test conducted on March 20, 2017. Fighters who test positive for steroids typically face a two-year suspension, however, Penne was able to prove she was taking a medication under the guidance of her physician that contained the banned steroid.
While her March test initially turned up negative, further review of Penne’s Athlete Biological Passport by USADA officials was “flagged for additional analysis due to an increased degree of variability in urinary biomarkers measured in the sample.”
Further testing on the sample Penne provided USADA showed synthetic steroids were indeed in her system.
Penne was denied a retroactive therapeutic use exemption for the steroid, despite the fact that it was recommended to her by a doctor, according to Penne.
She was able to compete in April while the matter was being adjudicated, losing to Danielle Taylor at UFC Nashville in April. Penne’s suspension was given out a day later, meaning she will be out of action until at least October 22, 2018.
The 34-year-old UFC strawweight holds a 12-5 record and is currently on a three-fight losing streak. She was previously the atomweight champion in Invicta and fell to former UFC strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2015.
Nick Diaz hasn’t stepped foot into the Octagon since his UFC 183 showdown with Anderson Silva back in 2015. Both men ended up failing drug tests, Silva for performance-enhancing drugs and Diaz for marijuana, a subsequent offense. Diaz and his brother Nate have always been a prickly pair but Nick has proven to be especially difficult […]
Nick Diaz hasn’t stepped foot into the Octagon since his UFC 183 showdown with Anderson Silva back in 2015. Both men ended up failing drug tests, Silva for performance-enhancing drugs and Diaz for marijuana, a subsequent offense.
Diaz and his brother Nate have always been a prickly pair but Nick has proven to be especially difficult to get back to fighting.
UFC VP of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky remains optimistic about Nick Diaz’s return, recently discussing his thoughts on the matter on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast:
“Nick was our first fighter that ran into the whereabouts issues. So he got three whereabouts failures in a rolling 12 months, so he’s currently going through that process. It’s a tough one.
“I think he does (want to fight). I think he does. I’ve sat down with him over the past couple months trying to resolve this whereabouts issues. The unfortunate thing there is, look, the whereabouts failures are there to catch people that are cheating and trying to avoid testing. I just think Nick’s lifestyle led to those three whereabouts, not that he was trying to avoid testing. We’re trying to work through that.”
Diaz is provisionally suspended due to failure to notify USADA of his whereabouts, but Novitzky believes he will compete again once the suspension ends.
UFC athletes must provide USADA with there whereabouts three times a year, something Diaz failed to do. However, Novitzky believes that Diaz’s negligence was probably due to the circle of friends and managers he keeps, people who ensure their fighter is on the up-and-up at all times:
“(Diaz) trusted certain individuals to do his whereabouts for him. What I think happened was, over time, those individuals were in and out of his life, and it was unbeknownst to him that he was missing all these things. But again, there’s strict liability here. He’s currently under sanction, but we’re hoping to resolve that pretty quick.”
Do you expect to see Nick Diaz fight in the UFC again?
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion. It may have been extremely rough around the edges in […]
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion.
It may have been extremely rough around the edges in those ‘dark’ days where the sport having few rules and regulation had it on the precipice of doom, but the opposite is very much true today. After the Fertitta brothers along with Dana White purchased the UFC for a paltry sum and turned it into a legitimately regulated competition watched on pay-per-view the world over, the UFC exploded into a global brand that put shows on nearly every weekend.
When its popularity peaked in 2016 on the heels of the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rivalry, the Fertitta brothers saw an opportunity to cash in, and cash in they did. Selling the UFC to Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG (now Endeavor) for a then-record $4.2 billion, one of the biggest franchise sales in sports (of any kind) history was complete. But all was not rosy. This year has seen the advent of some truly horrific pay-per-view and television ratings, with UFC 213, UFC 215, and UFC 216 ranking as three of the lowest-watched PPVs ever, while December’s TUF 26 Finale was the least-watched UFC live event of all-time.
So while it was undoubtedly rough around the edges in its infancy, the UFC is dealing with a whole different set of problems heading into 2018, and many would argue that the UFC owners don’t exactly know what they’re doing. A growing sense is that the Hollywood agency is now trying to book the more mainstream, over-the-top spectacle fights rather than those that clearly have a more legitimate meaning based on meritocracy.
It’s lead to a steady stream of criticism that the UFC is becoming more like pro-wrestling and their WWE counterpart, obviously not the most endearing of words from fight fans. The argument, unfortunately, cannot be totally denied. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:
Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire
5.) Titles Mean Next To Nothing:
Endeavor has to be commended for finally getting the middleweight division moving in the right direction by booking Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold for UFC 221, but there is one weight class that is an absolute mess in the UFC.
It’s obviously Conor McGregor’s held-hostage lightweight division, where “The Notorious” fought once and won the belt way back at UFC 205 in November 2016 before leaving to box – and lose – to Floyd Mayweather for the entirety of 2017. McGregor made the record-setting payday he was always looking for and can’t be blamed for doing it, but the fact remains the 155-pound landscape, which is still one of the most talented in MMA, has no clarity whatsoever at the current moment.
An interim belt was given to Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216, but without a path to a unification bout with McGregor, he opted to have elbow surgery, leaving not one but two champions on the sidelines with no real news about a return. Take into account the middleweight situation as well, where Michael Bisping was allowed to avoid the top 10 contenders by facing a retiring No. 14 Dan Henderson and an unretiring Georges St-Pierre, who had never even fought in the division. St-Pierre won and vacated the belt hardly a month later.
Interim titles are also created around much more frequently, making them seem more like the WWE titles that are handed over and won back on a never-ending cycle.
Because of these occurrences, UFC titles seem like little more than gold belts to be flaunted after a win rather than symbols of true MMA supremacy to be defended with pride.
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion. It may have been extremely rough around the edges in […]
When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion.
It may have been extremely rough around the edges in those ‘dark’ days where the sport having few rules and regulation had it on the precipice of doom, but the opposite is very much true today. After the Fertitta brothers along with Dana White purchased the UFC for a paltry sum and turned it into a legitimately regulated competition watched on pay-per-view the world over, the UFC exploded into a global brand that put shows on nearly every weekend.
When its popularity peaked in 2016 on the heels of the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rivalry, the Fertitta brothers saw an opportunity to cash in, and cash in they did. Selling the UFC to Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG (now Endeavor) for a then-record $4.2 billion, one of the biggest franchise sales in sports (of any kind) history was complete. But all was not rosy. This year has seen the advent of some truly horrific pay-per-view and television ratings, with UFC 213, UFC 215, and UFC 216 ranking as three of the lowest-watched PPVs ever, while December’s TUF 26 Finale was the least-watched UFC live event of all-time.
So while it was undoubtedly rough around the edges in its infancy, the UFC is dealing with a whole different set of problems heading into 2018, and many would argue that the UFC owners don’t exactly know what they’re doing. A growing sense is that the Hollywood agency is now trying to book the more mainstream, over-the-top spectacle fights rather than those that clearly have a more legitimate meaning based on meritocracy.
It’s lead to a steady stream of criticism that the UFC is becoming more like pro-wrestling and their WWE counterpart, obviously not the most endearing of words from fight fans. The argument, unfortunately, cannot be totally denied. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:
Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire
5.) Titles Mean Next To Nothing:
Endeavor has to be commended for finally getting the middleweight division moving in the right direction by booking Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold for UFC 221, but there is one weight class that is an absolute mess in the UFC.
It’s obviously Conor McGregor’s held-hostage lightweight division, where “The Notorious” fought once and won the belt way back at UFC 205 in November 2016 before leaving to box – and lose – to Floyd Mayweather for the entirety of 2017. McGregor made the record-setting payday he was always looking for and can’t be blamed for doing it, but the fact remains the 155-pound landscape, which is still one of the most talented in MMA, has no clarity whatsoever at the current moment.
An interim belt was given to Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216, but without a path to a unification bout with McGregor, he opted to have elbow surgery, leaving not one but two champions on the sidelines with no real news about a return. Take into account the middleweight situation as well, where Michael Bisping was allowed to avoid the top 10 contenders by facing a retiring No. 14 Dan Henderson and an unretiring Georges St-Pierre, who had never even fought in the division. St-Pierre won and vacated the belt hardly a month later.
Interim titles are also created around much more frequently, making them seem more like the WWE titles that are handed over and won back on a never-ending cycle.
Because of these occurrences, UFC titles seem like little more than gold belts to be flaunted after a win rather than symbols of true MMA supremacy to be defended with pride.
