MMA/UFC Discussion Thread MMA • Page 125

I think it definitely does fall more so on the responsibility of the athletes and their team, same as any other sport. It's a career choice, and there are plenty of fighters who are smart enough to avoid essentially any/all man made enhancement drugs. Enough to say people who have already been popped once or twice before definitely don't deserve to get a free pass a second time around, even if it's an "accident."

 

I don't understand contaminated supplements at all

 

Sometimes it's supplement companies putting things in their products to make them "better" and not disclosing that they did so like in Josh Barnett's case or like in the current situation with Anderson Silva. Even if the fighters check to see if the product they just bought at Walmart is on USADA's banned list and do their homework, it does not come up, but somehow the fighters end up testing positive for something they didn't know they were taking.

In far fewer cases, the supplements actually get contaminated because they were made in the same facility as a drug that is a prohibited substance (apparently what just happened to JDS). Either way, the fighters still get some punishment because they had the option to send the supplement in for testing but didn't because they assumed what they were taking was fine (it's ultimately on them).

I would say another common occurrence that gets conflated as "contaminated" is when fighters take a non-performance enhancing drug without realizing there's some obscure thing in there that could appear as a "masking agent" or estrogen blocker or something. Like with Jones and Silva taking "dick pills", Chad Mendes using steroidal skin cream, Lyoto buying some sort of vitamins or something at the grocery store, etc. They aren't actually contaminated and don't have any hidden substances, so the athletes get punished for being careless and not checking with USADA to see if the product is even legal. I may be wrong, but I believe there are certain medical products that fighters can take that are on the banned lists if they disclose it to USADA beforehand and get clearance.

The vast majority of suspensions come from things like this where the fighters weren't knowingly taking a performance enhancing drug, which is a huge bummer but what are ya gonna do?

 

Thanks for this. Its one of those things I'd always heard but assumed was a bullshit copout. You hear stories off guys hiding under rings and shit to avoid piss tests and it throws into question everything. Interesting to understand that it can be really shitty on both fronts.

 

FUCK YES

 

For sure! And don't get me wrong, I still believe a lot of that is going on, too. There are also a lot of guys who aren't getting caught but definitely had less success after the more stringent testing came along which can't be a coincidence.

The main issue on the fighters' behalf (at least in my opinion) is kind of what you said - you just assume it's bullshit and excuses. Even for someone just accidentally taking a contaminated product, they are still put on the shelf and unable to compete/make money even before a decision is made. Then when they are found to be telling the truth and took the substance by accident, they're still reprimanded even further and already branded a liar and cheater by the public. It's kind of a raw deal but I'm not sure what else they would really do.

 

Man...

 

Fuck

 

But, man!

 

HAHAHA fuck Covington

 

Incredible.

 

We say this every year, but this might be the most ridiculous year of fight cancellations and interim titles ever.

 

Welp

 

Brock will have his revenge.

 

Oh I am def into that.

 

Could be the start of a special run for Anthony Smith.

Wanna see him against someone in the top 5 next.

 

Gus is officially off 227

 

I’ve been wanting to see that rematch for a while now. Weidman is just a strange one for me because he was so good/dominant for the first part of his career and then dropped three stoppage losses in a row. I’d be curious to see if he can get that one back from Rockhold since he’s also been knocked silly twice since then.

 

Not going to lie, I love Rockhold and hope he wins.

 

out of nowhere but fucking sign me up

 

Now that's a fuckin fight right there.

 

SHEESH