USADA: Helping Or Hurting The Sport Of MMA?

On June 3, 2015, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held a press conference in Las Vegas to announce they were partnering up with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in an attempt to clear MMA of anabolic steroid and performance enhancing drug (PED) abusers.

UFC’s Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky called USADA’s testing policy “the best anti-doping program in all of professional sports,” and as we’ve found out in the past year of results, that couldn’t be closer to the truth.

USADA currently controls the testing for the U.S. Olympic, Paralympic, Pan-American and Para-Pan American sports teams. The organization is also credited for winning a lawsuit filed by famed cyclist Lance Armstrong, whom USADA hit with an anti-doping violation after he had already been retired.

USADA guidelines specify substances such as anabolic steroids, growth hormones, peptides, blood doping drugs and methods as ‘Non-specified Substances’, and punishment for the use of any of the above described are as follows:

• 1st offense: 2 years (with possibility of 4 years for “aggravating circumstances”)
• 2nd offense: Double the sanction for the 1st offense
• 3rd offense: Double the sanction for the 2nd offense

Specified substances such as marijuana, cocaine, other stimulants and glucocorticosteroids could see an athlete sidelined as follows:

• 1st offense: 1 years (with possibility of 2 additional years for “aggravating circumstances”)
• 2nd offense: Double the sanction for the 1st offense
• 3rd offense: Double the sanction for the 2nd offense

Just how extensive is the new USADA drug testing policy? Well current UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor posted the following video documenting his most recent USADA test:

At first glance, the decision by the UFC to implement such a powerful testing process for it’s fighters is an admirable one, but are the strict guidelines of USADA harming the relatively young sport of mixed martial arts (MMA)?

Since the partnership between the UFC and USADA’s inception, fighters have been dropping like flies. While some names we expected to be heard where in fact called out, there where also some that took MMA fans by surprise.

Fighters such as Jon Jones, BJ Penn, Yoel Romero, Diego Brandao, Mirko Cro Cop, Frank Mir, Lyoto Machida, Chad Mendes, and Brock Lesnar have all been flagged for violations under the harsh USADA microscope.

While some of these violations stem from the use of substances such as Ibutamoren, HGH, and Turinabol, there are some head scratchers when it comes to the drug testing of USADA.

The use of IVs, for example, is now frowned upon according to USADA regulations, leaving some fighters upset given it is how most rehydrate following the dreaded weight cut typically performed prior to a bout.

Another questionable offense that has arisen is the ‘tainted supplement’ defense, in which a fighter takes a supplement that turns out to be tainted with a substance on USADA’s banned list causing them to be flagged, and thus removed from their scheduled contest.

One current case that similarly echoes these circumstances is that of Jones, who was removed from his highly anticipated UFC 200 headliner with hated rival Daniel Cormier just two days out from the event. An emotional Jones held a press conference claiming his innocence, unsuccessfully fighting the urge to hold back tears.

Amongst Jones’ ongoing USADA trials, it has now left many to question whether or not ‘Bones’ has been clean his whole career, putting a tarnish in the great legacy the former 205-pound king created for himself.

UFC 200 had its fair share of ups and downs this past July, as the co-headlining bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt managed to remain intact come fight night; however, trouble began to brew for the former heavyweight champion Lesnar shortly following the event’s conclusion.

USADA would announce that yet another UFC box office attraction could potentially be shelved, as ‘The Beast’ tested positive for a banned substance as well. Lesnar, who currently works for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), made his MMA return after nearly five years away from the sport to successfully defeat the then No. 8-ranked Hunt, and now could possibly be staring at a two-year suspension from the Octagon.

In the words of former UFC co-owner Lorenzo Feritta , ‘It’s going to get worst before it get’s better,’ and that statement continues to be proven more and more true as time progresses.

At the end of the day, MMA fans must ask themselves if the UFC getting in bed with USADA was the best thing for the sport. Of course the safety of the fighters is of great importance; however, in a sport where two men put their bodies through insanely rigorous training only to beat each other to submission inside the Octagon, should the regulated use of PED’s be something worth considering? Would a level playing field even be a possibility?

We’ve seen huge draws from the sport such as Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar fall victim to USADA’s testing criteria, and have seen legacies and massively important cards such as UFC 200 fall to the agency as well. They obviously broke the rules, and using PEDs in a sport where violence is the main focus is obviously walking a thin line. They should have known better, and were and will be punished accordingly for their actions.

However, perhaps a more realistic medium could be reached. That’s not to say all MMA athletes should be allowed to use steroids and other PEDs. The ill-fated TRT experiment was definitely a mess, but a better system could possibly be implemented with the more stringent checks and balances USADA has put into place.

What are your thoughts? Is USADA ruining the sport with its stringent testing criteria, or will the reward be worth the wait when it’s all said and done?