Tag: USADA

Busted: The 10 Worst Drug Test Failures In MMA History

In an effort to clean up the sport, today’s new and enhanced MMA landscape where the UFC has partnered with USADA to implement a world-class anti-doping regimen, drug test failures for performance-enhancing drugs have become much more commonplace and public in fighting than ever before. Perhaps it was to be expected as the sport continues […]

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In an effort to clean up the sport, today’s new and enhanced MMA landscape where the UFC has partnered with USADA to implement a world-class anti-doping regimen, drug test failures for performance-enhancing drugs have become much more commonplace and public in fighting than ever before.

Perhaps it was to be expected as the sport continues to struggle with the program more than two years since its inception, but some high-profile failures have wrecked what would have otherwise been huge events, and some would even argue that the UFC’s partnership with USADA is actually doing more harm than good for the promotion.

That’s ridiculous, of course, as preventing a highly trained athlete from beating another athlete while under the benefit of PEDs is obviously a very good thing – yet there are signs that USADA’s timing and overall implementation could use some smoothing out of their own. Those details are another discussion for another time, however. With big UFC PPVs being ruined by drug test failures seemingly a regular occurrence these days, it brings to light how drug testing has affected events and even fighters’ careers both in the past and present.

We took a look back at the 10 most devastating drug test failures in MMA history, and the results found show just how impactful they have been on the still-young sport. Check them out:

Cris Cyborg – Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal:

The drug test that UFC women’s featherweight champ Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino failed for stanozolol after her thunderous 16-second TKO of Hiroko Yamanaka in December 2011 is arguably the most impactful on this list as it’s caused Cyborg to be followed by a reputation as a steroid user, and probably always will.

She was suspended for one year, stripped of her Strikeforce women’s featherweight belt, and her win over Yamanaka was changed to a no-contest. The failure was one of the main reasons (along with weight) why former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey wouldn’t fight Cyborg, and that topic was again brought up when original UFC 145-pound champion Germaine de Randamie refused to defend the belt against Cyborg, even if it could certainly be argued there were several other factors in play there.

It appeared Cyborg was headed into a disappointing squandering of her talent when she was popped for a USADA violation last year, but she was able to clear her name of that violation by claiming a prescribed substance she used during her foolish cuts down to 140 pounds for the UFC in 2016. For what it’s worth, she’s apparently complied with all of the rigorous requirements of the UFC’s anti-doping program with USADA (despite rumors otherwise), but her career will always be shrouded by her singular failure in Strikeforce.

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Junior dos Santos Says he Was Devastated by USADA Violation

Junior dos Santos initially didn’t handle his U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation well. “Cigano” was set to take on Francis Ngannou last month. The heavyweight tilt would’ve taken place inside Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on the UFC 215 card. When dos Santos was flagged by USADA, the match-up was pulled. Speaking to Combate, dos […]

Junior dos Santos initially didn’t handle his U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation well. “Cigano” was set to take on Francis Ngannou last month. The heavyweight tilt would’ve taken place inside Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on the UFC 215 card. When dos Santos was flagged by USADA, the match-up was pulled. Speaking to Combate, dos […]

USADA Releases Statement on Jesse Taylor’s One-Year Suspension

Jesse Taylor has accepted a one-year sanction for violating the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) policy. Last month, Taylor was flagged by USADA for a positive sample collected on Aug. 22. The substance in question was clomiphene. It falls under the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators. Taylor was scheduled to face Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night […]

Jesse Taylor has accepted a one-year sanction for violating the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) policy. Last month, Taylor was flagged by USADA for a positive sample collected on Aug. 22. The substance in question was clomiphene. It falls under the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators. Taylor was scheduled to face Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night […]

UFC Exec Releases Update On Jon Jones Debacle

UFC Vice President of Athlete Health & Performance Jeff Novitsky works very closely with USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) and the UFC’s drug test program, which is why he’s often asked about troubled former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Jones last competed at UFC 214 this past July, scoring a third-round knockout victory over […]

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UFC Vice President of Athlete Health & Performance Jeff Novitsky works very closely with USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) and the UFC’s drug test program, which is why he’s often asked about troubled former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Jones last competed at UFC 214 this past July, scoring a third-round knockout victory over Daniel Cormier to reclaim the 205-pound title. This was Jones’ first fight since UFC 197 in April 2016 due to the fact that he failed a drug test prior to UFC 200 in July 200. The only problem, however, is that he failed yet another drug test surrounding UFC 214, making his fighting future unclear.

Novitsky appeared on a recent edition of Bruce Buffer’s podcast where he discussed Jones’ situation, and apparently some have taken his comments out of contest, as rumors have begun to emerge indicating that Jones is likely to avoid any suspension at all.

Speaking with MMAFighting.com, however, Novitsky set the record straight:

“The headline and corresponding article took excerpts from an interview I did last week, where I was asked about the status of Jon Jones’ pending case,” Novitzky wrote in the statement. “I indicated that Jon’s camp, the UFC and USADA were all working hard and together to determine the source of the prohibited substance in Jon’s system. That is still the case.

“I stated that this is often a lengthy process that can take up to several months to complete, but that possible sanctions based on the findings of a completed case ranged from a multi-year suspension, to a minimal, or no-fault sanction, if an unavoidable ingestion of the prohibited substance was determined.”

While it’s true that the UFC, USADA, and Jones’ team are indeed working on issue, Novitsky confirmed that there are not yet any signs leading to the idea that Jones will be found innocent:

“While all parties are hoping to find evidence of the unintentional or unavoidable use of the prohibited substance, at no time during the interview did I indicate that there were developments leading in that direction, as was the inference of the headline,” Novitzky said.

How do you expect Jones’ situation to play out?

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Lyoto Machida Says He’s Unsure if USADA Has Been Beneficial to MMA

Lyoto Machida is finally returning to action after a debated suspension. Machida was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for use of 7-Keto, which can be found in U.S. supplements. Machida was given an 18-month suspension and many have criticized the punishment for being too harsh. “The Dragon” will take on Derek Brunson on […]

Lyoto Machida is finally returning to action after a debated suspension. Machida was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for use of 7-Keto, which can be found in U.S. supplements. Machida was given an 18-month suspension and many have criticized the punishment for being too harsh. “The Dragon” will take on Derek Brunson on […]

Cris Cyborg Blasts UFC For Offering Pay Downgrade

The UFC just can’t seem to find a happy medium with women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. And there could be a distinct reason for that. After finally winning a UFC title against Invicta bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger at July’s UFC 214, Cyborg repeatedly called out for a title fight against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion […]

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The UFC just can’t seem to find a happy medium with women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.

And there could be a distinct reason for that.

After finally winning a UFC title against Invicta bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger at July’s UFC 214, Cyborg repeatedly called out for a title fight against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm, who fought Germaine de Randamie in the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight title fight, at December 30’s UFC 219.

However, according to Cyborg, that booking is seeming more and more unlikely due to the payday the UFC is offering her. She tweeted last night that a scheduled meeting with the UFC had been called off because they were offering her a downgrade in pay to fight Holm:

The issue is merely the latest in a long string of back-and-forth troubles between the UFC and Cyborg, which were seemingly remedied after she was hit with a potential USADA violation last year, of which she was exonerated yet still did not fight in the first UFC women’s 145-pound title bout in the main event of February’s UFC 208.

It seemed getting Cyborg to the octagon was becoming tougher by the day, but the two sides hashed things out enough to get her inside the Octagon at UFC 214, where she dominated a tough Evinger en route to a third-round TKO stoppage. The stage was certainly set for Cyborg to realize her potential as one of MMA’s biggest stars (and most controversial draws) against Holm, who is quite possibly the only woman ready and willing to fight, other than Cyborg, at featherweight right now.

But with fighter pay and treatment one of the most heated topics in MMA in the year following WME-IMG’s then-record $4.2 billion UFC purchase, a champion probably won’t take a pay cut to fight a bigger name than she did for her previous bout, especially considering she’s finally champion. We’ve only gotten Cyborg’s side of the story for now, and UFC 219, at least of this writing, isn’t shaping up to be quite as impactful a card as UFC 214, which featured the long-awaited return of Jon Jones, was.

That could all change, of course, but Cyborg’s accusation at her employer, if true, would seem like just another unnecessary hold-up in an era where the UFC is trying to nickel and dime their fighters to death – even their champions.

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