The UFC's New Anti-Doping Policy

[Damon_3388]

Surprised not to see a thread about this, considering what a hot-button topic PEDs are in sport at the moment, particularly in Australia.

Breaking down the UFC's anti-doping policy

The UFC's landmark anti-doping policy officially goes into effect on Wednesday (July 1), subjecting the promotion's entire roster to year-round, unannounced drug testing for the first time in its 21-year-history.

UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky, who has investigated some of the highest-profile steroid scandals in professional sports, has trumpeted the policy as "the most robust and comprehensive program in all of professional sports."

The promotion has contracted the United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA) to serve as an independent administrator of the policy. USADA CEO Travis Tygart referred to the UFC's new program as "groundbreaking" in the sport.

Will this make MMA (at least at the top level) the cleanest sport in the world, or will the "cheats" and scientists always be a step ahead? Is this a good thing, or is it too heavy-handed? Discuss.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

I do like it and I think it should be heavy handed its going to take years to clean this sport up I am just waiting to see how it all goes

 

[Barry Roundhouse]

it's clearly a step in the right direction. I think the punishments for first offence are a little heavy handed but it's probably necessary.

I don't like the banning of IV drips.
I read that it can be used as a way to mask PEDS but it's going to make weight cutting even more dangerous in the short term. we are going to see so many fighters go up in weight. Conor won't be at 145 once it comes into effect. I'd almost garrentee Jon jones will be at heavy weight when he gets back.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

the Iv's is crazy dont know if it will go through however if it does gets fighters to fight closer to there walk around weight im not opposed to it. id like to see something like an x amount above your fighting weight say so many weeks before fight with random testing the amount they are cutting is getting ridiculous

 

[phantom13]

The sport will never be clean, in a similar vein to cycling there is more money in being able to cheat and get away with it than there is to catch cheats. Having said that a very heavy handed penalty will always be the greatest deterrent. Hit them hard in the pocket, its the only way people will learn.

Echo MMAPride Scott thoughts about weight cutting, Anthony Johnson was trying to fight was a f**king welterweight for a while, i'd much rather see guys fighting closer to their natural weight. As much as cutting is part of the sport the more dangerous it gets the worse it is for everyone, it will happen that a title fight is called off becuase some massive fighter cant make weight or they make weight but then can barely lift their hands for the fight. Mark Hunt in Adelaide looked like a fighter coming off a brutal cut. IV or not doesnt bother me too much but i think the genera idea is to move away from intravenously taken anythings, its never a good look whether its legal or not and the UFC is more about good perception than ever right now.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

The sport will never be clean, in a similar vein to cycling there is more money in being able to cheat and get away with it than there is to catch cheats. Having said that a very heavy handed penalty will always be the greatest deterrent. Hit them hard in the pocket, its the only way people will learn.

Echo MMAPride Scott thoughts about weight cutting, Anthony Johnson was trying to fight was a f**king welterweight for a while, i'd much rather see guys fighting closer to their natural weight. As much as cutting is part of the sport the more dangerous it gets the worse it is for everyone, it will happen that a title fight is called off becuase some massive fighter cant make weight or they make weight but then can barely lift their hands for the fight. Mark Hunt in Adelaide looked like a fighter coming off a brutal cut. IV or not doesnt bother me too much but i think the genera idea is to move away from intravenously taken anythings, its never a good look whether its legal or not and the UFC is more about good perception than ever right now.

Weight cutting is a problem but its a difficult one to addess the ivs its only the plastic so they weill use glass bottles instead of the platsic bag. i dont know what to do about the cutting maybe set a time frame say 5 weeks out and a fighter has to stay within x amount of pounds for fighting weight
even connor being 30 pounds out so close to fight is ridiculous

 

[Damon_3388]

Weight cutting is a problem but its a difficult one to addess the ivs its only the plastic so they weill use glass bottles instead of the platsic bag. i dont know what to do about the cutting maybe set a time frame say 5 weeks out and a fighter has to stay within x amount of pounds for fighting weight
even connor being 30 pounds out so close to fight is ridiculous

I think having a "pre-weigh in" baseline of weight class + 20lbs four weeks from the official weight ins is fair. Really, if you're blowing out any more or needing to cut any more than that so close to the fight, you really should be in the next weight class up.

 

[BradWCE]

The IV ban would be good if they did something that got fighters to stop cutting heaps of weight. How it is now, I think it's going to be terrible. There'll be plenty of fighters cutting the same amount of weight, but without being able to use an IV. I think it'll just be more dangerous for the fighters and it won't really address drastic weight cuts.

In college wrestling in the US they brought in new rules relating to weight cutting after some people died cutting weight years ago. It includes how much weight you can lose in a certain time frame and monitoring body fat and water content. These rules are probably much easier to enforce in a college environment than in MMA though. I don't know what's going to change, but I think something needs to.

I'm at the point where I don't really care about fighters taking whatever drugs now. To me it seems like nearly everyone has used something that's not allowed. TRT pissed me off because it was a loophole that allowed fighters to cheat. The commissions allowed some fighters to take a form of steroids because they had a doctors note, while others were punished for taking steroids, or even more hilariously, marijuana. Almost nobody cares that Dan Henderson was on TRT for however many years, but test positive for a non-commission approved steroid and everyone loses their s**t.

The guy the UFC have overseeing this whole thing seems like he'll stop at nothing to uncover drug cheats. Jeff Novitzky violated the 4th amendment of the US constitution in his attempts to get to the bottom of drug scandals in other sports. People say they don't care as long as it uncovers the drug cheats. I think that's stupid.

 

[phantom13]

It needs an overhaul. The premise should be around performance enhancing and danger to the athletes.

PED's are a no brainer, letting someone juice and go in and fight is like giving them a loaded gun and taking it to a fist fight, the risk is a fighter being seriously injured or killed by a roided up fighter.
The IV (and weight cutting in general) needs more diligence. Stopping the IV without investigating the effects and alternatives is silly (although i read an article the other day indicating oral hydration is as effective as IV for fighters). More consistent monitoring, limiting weight cuts (so Anthony Johnson can try to fight at welterweight again) or having weigh ins on fight day would all be viable options with more research.
Who gives a s**t about pot? Let them do it.

 

[BradWCE]

I think same day weigh ins are a terrible idea. Unless of course they can monitor fighters at all times to make sure they aren't cutting much weight and aren't dehydrated. It's similar to the IV thing. I don't think they can or want to do that. Fighters will still cut weight and then go into a fight dehydrated, or even more so than usual, making it more dangerous for them.

 

[phantom13]

I think same day weigh ins are a terrible idea. Unless of course they can monitor fighters at all times to make sure they aren't cutting much weight and aren't dehydrated. It's similar to the IV thing. I don't think they can or want to do that. Fighters will still cut weight and then go into a fight dehydrated, or even more so than usual, making it more dangerous for them.

I probably agree but its just an option, they need to do something.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

I like the new rules for Amateurs where they have to be with in x amount a week before the fight the idea is to change the mentality. Ronda goes over this a bit in the Joe Rogan podcast its really interesting

 

[MMAPride Scott]

I think we are going to see some movements soon, Connor has already hinted at a move up

 

[phantom13]

The UFC will already pick weight catagories for fighters (Kelvin Gastelum for one) probably they way the UFC will go given their desire to control f**king everything else in the sport.

 

[BradWCE]

Something to think about with the IV ban. If it forces a number of fighters to go up a division, then that's going to impact the women's divisions badly. 135ers have nowhere to go and 115ers only have a massive jump up to 135 available to them in the UFC.

Have many fighters have said that they'll be going up a division when the ban is implemented? I know Masvidal said he can't fight at 155 when it's brought in. He's already gone up to WW though. Tibau cuts a lot of weight to get to LW. McGregor cuts a lot to get to 145, but I think I saw that he doesn't use an IV, which surprised me. Rousey or someone involved with her weight cut said she doesn't use an IV.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

On the flip side if you can't rehydrate with water your in the wrong division, def need something for women, hw, ww and lw

 

[phantom13]

Rousey is used to olympic standards (which ban IV's as well).

I CBF finding it but there was an article on Bleacher Report that referenced that Oral hydration can be as effective as IV if done correctly (its obviously easier to sit with a IV in whilst chilling out than making sure you drink enough water at the correct amounts and times).

Dont think too many women (Rousey aside) cut insane weight to make 135 but there are probably a few 115ers (although again i know Penne and Chambers were originally 105ers that came up).

Im pretty sure Aldo has said he either wont stop using an IV or will have to go up a division, dont think ive heard of anyone else.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

Rousey is used to olympic standards (which ban IV's as well).

I CBF finding it but there was an article on Bleacher Report that referenced that Oral hydration can be as effective as IV if done correctly (its obviously easier to sit with a IV in whilst chilling out than making sure you drink enough water at the correct amounts and times).

Dont think too many women (Rousey aside) cut insane weight to make 135 but there are probably a few 115ers (although again i know Penne and Chambers were originally 105ers that came up).

Im pretty sure Aldo has said he either wont stop using an IV or will have to go up a division, dont think ive heard of anyone else.

Connor ******* mcgreggor lol but he didnt say its the iv the weight cut is killing me. he just says I killed the division before even winning the title lol

 

[BradWCE]

http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2015/9/9/9271811/can-boxing-trust-usada

Haven't read the article yet, but have seen MMA media people mention how it doesn't look good for USADA and that you have to ask some questions about them running the UFC program.

Small snippet from it that looks really dodgy:

In other words, 18 days after the fight, USADA gave Mayweather a retroactive therapeutic use exemption for a procedure that is on the WADA “Prohibited Substances and Methods List.” And because of a loophole in its drug-testing contract, USADA wasn’t obligated to notify the Nevada State Athletic Commission or Pacquiao camp regarding Mayweather’s IV until after the retroactive TUE was granted.

Meanwhile, on May 2 (fight night), Pacquiao’s request to be injected with Toradol (a legal substance) to ease the pain caused by a torn rotator cuff was denied by the Nevada State Athletic Commission because the request was not made in a timely manner.

Rousey is used to olympic standards (which ban IV's as well).

She was competing at 70kg (154 pounds) when she finished her judo career and prior to moving up to that division she was competing at 63kg (139 pounds). Plus she was only 21 when she stopped competing in judo. She'd be used to it, but the weight cuts must be tougher on her now than back then.

I CBF finding it but there was an article on Bleacher Report that referenced that Oral hydration can be as effective as IV if done correctly (its obviously easier to sit with a IV in whilst chilling out than making sure you drink enough water at the correct amounts and times).

I heard something along these lines too. What I heard was that oral and IV hydration work as well as each other as long as you're not cutting too much weight. If you're cutting a massive amount of weight then you'll still be dehydrated come fight time unless you're using an IV because you won't drink enough in 24 hours from what I've heard. With nothing in place to stop fighters trying to cut massive amounts of weight, I think there'll certainly be some that try to without an IV and it won't go too well for them.

 

[Bring_Back_Brad]

I think the whole weight cutting thing is stupid.
Make them weigh in 30mins before the fight and the whole issue goes away.
Fighters can maintain correct weight throughout training. No point cutting for the fight if you don't have a chance to rehydrate back up again. Redefine the weight classes to 10pounds higher, which then actually reflects what they are fighting at.

 

[BradWCE]

That story I posted here earlier has led to USADA responding. http://www.usada.org/wp-content/upl...ection-to-SB-Nation-Article-by-Tom-Hauser.pdf

The Mayweather thing still really bugs me. USADA are saying that WADA allows retroactive TUEs. A retroactive TUE doesn't really make sense to me. Shouldn't you get the TUE before you do whatever the TUE allows you to do?

This isn't directly to do with the UFC's policy, but the NSAC increased penalties after the UFC policy was announced, right? As we saw with the Diaz suspension, you don't get a fair hearing. People shouldn't be happy with the increased penalties for PEDs that the NSAC brought in imo. How are you going to be okay with draconian punishments for PEDs when fighters don't even get a fair hearing?

The Belfort story I posted in the general discussion thread makes me wonder about this whole thing. Obviously that was the UFC acting on their own without USADA overseeing the whole thing and it's at least better now with USADA around. We know that low level fighters who are replaceable won't get any leniency from USADA or the UFC. How about big draws? Does anyone really think that a McGregor or Rousey violation couldn't be swept under the carpet like nothing ever happened? The UFC seemingly did it with Belfort, of course they'd do it with their biggest money makers right now. It all depends on USADA.

 

[phantom13]

I used to have alot of faith in the system but that was a long time ago. The Diaz thing was an absolute farce, until a fighter loaded to the eyes on steroids, hgh, trt and bull semen rips someones heart out (or seriously injures someone in the ring) nothing will get done.

5 years for pot a few months after 1 year for roids shows what weve all known, its not what you know, its who you are and who you know.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

I used to have alot of faith in the system but that was a long time ago. The Diaz thing was an absolute farce, until a fighter loaded to the eyes on steroids, hgh, trt and bull semen rips someones heart out (or seriously injures someone in the ring) nothing will get done.

5 years for pot a few months after 1 year for roids shows what weve all known, its not what you know, its who you are and who you know.

you got it in one, this is the same commision that alowed Floyd to schedule his bouts around his prision terms. Offered Chael a job and the list goes on and on if you suck up there ass or have sig amounts of cash you will cruise through. Saying that listening the the anik and Kenny show today looks like Diaz has a really solid case and nervada are about the get smashed Id expect the whole thing overturned. But how does that effect the result