USADA News

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2018

At a hearing earlier this month, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), advised former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to enroll in VADA drug testing in addition to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing that he’s subject to as a UFC fighter. This extra testing was not mandatory, merely encouraged. “I, for one, would like to put the doubts to sleep and to put them away once and for all,” commissioner Martha Shen-Urquidez told Jones at the hearing. “And for people to believe you, that you are that talented and that you are the greatest, and that you can win a fight just clean, and that this is Jon Jones, and to put those doubts away once and for all.”

Drake Riggs - December 11, 2018

Last week, we got what appeared to be some shenanigans from USADA involving former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE star Brock Lesnar where we saw the disappearance of one of his test samples. Obviously, this was a bit concerning as Lesnar has a history with performance-enhancing drugs and is currently being tested in the hopes of returning to likely face current champion Daniel Cormier at some point early next year.

Tom Taylor - November 14, 2018

Rising UFC bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley has been handed a 6-month suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for failing a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug test administered ahead of his cancelled UFC 229 fight, per MMAjunkie. O’Malley received a reduced suspension on the basis of his cooperation with the commission, and because he accepted responsibility for his failed test. In addition to his suspension, he will reportedly have to pay $472.42 in costs and fees.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2018

The circumstances of Jon Jones’ dealings with the United States Anti-Doping Agency are extremely mysterious. It’s been well over a year since the former light heavyweight champion’s failed drug test, which came to light after his July, 2017 fight with Daniel Cormier, yet we still have no answers with respect to his punishment. This has led some members of the MMA community to speculate that there could be some kind of seediness going on with Jon Jones’ case — perhaps even a financial payoff to accelerate his return to the cage.

Drake Riggs - July 9, 2018

This past Saturday, current WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar stepped foot inside of an MMA cage for the first time since UFC 200 in July 2016. That last time being when he would defeat Mark Hunt via unanimous decision only to test positive for banned substances shortly after.

Tom Taylor - June 28, 2018

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker felt that Yoel Romero changed quite significantly between their first and second fights. According to Whittaker, Romero felt more or less normal when they first fought, and more like “metal” or “concrete” when they met for a second time at UFC 225 earlier this month. “When I was punching and kicking him [at UFC 225] he felt like metal — like a dude made out of concrete, it was a ridiculous,” Whittaker said on Grange TV.  “I fought him a year ago, and he didn’t feel like concrete. Not like that.”

Tom Taylor - May 22, 2018

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), has struck again. On Tuesday afternoon, the agency announced that former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has been informed of a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on April 25, 2018. Per a UFC release:

Drake Riggs - April 23, 2018

Following Josh Barnett’s potentially groundbreaking reprimanding from USADA comes three more cases that have been reduced resulting in fighting freedom. Most notably is the former UFC heavyweight champion, Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos who last fought at UFC 211 against Stipe Miocic in May of last year. The man often referred to as JDS was quickly booked to return for UFC 215 against the highly dangerous, Francis Ngannou. That was until Dos Santos was pulled for his USADA violation that has now been confirmed as a result of tainted supplements(as are the two others’).

Justin Golightly - March 6, 2018

Derrick Lewis made his triumphant return at UFC Austin with a late knockout of Marcin Tybura. After a delayed fourth round celebration with his wife, he went right back on the warpath trying to fight the who’s who of the heavyweight division. He’s been eyeing Francis Ngannou, but he’s just one of many. He’s even willing to welcome Brock Lesnar back to the UFC, regardless of USADA testing or not. “Yeah hopefully we can get something done this year, man. Hopefully we can get something before [Francis Ngannou] turns 50 on us. Usually after every fight, I tell them I would like to fight this guy. I always try to pick out the toughest guys that’s out there. […] I told them Francis, I told them [Alistair] Overeem, even a rematch with Mark [Hunt]. Who’s the other guy, [Curtis] Blaydes and Fabricio [Werdum]. Yeah, [the winner of Blaydes and Overeem]. I’d like to fight in May or June.”

Tom Taylor - January 10, 2018

Amanda Ribas’ UFC career has been dealt a serious blow before it even started. The strawweight fighter was scheduled to make her promotional debut opposite Julianna Lima last summer. Unfortunately, she was pulled from this contest when she tested positive for the banned substance ostarine in an out-of-competition test facilitated on June 7. She was subsequently handed a provisional suspension, while USADA, the UFC’s anti-doping partner, examined her case.

Justin Golightly - September 30, 2017

If for some reason or another you didn’t know who Andrea Lee was, you were about to. She’s been tearing it up in Invicta and then jumped over to Legacy Fighting Alliance to become their first ever women’s flyweight champion. This lady hasn’t been just winning, she’s been dominating and finishing opponents in exciting fashion. Those that have followed her career as a prospect had cause for excitement after it was announced she got the call from the UFC. She was slated to fight this coming weekend at UFC 216 against Kalindra Faria, but was surprisingly pulled from the card only a day later. Andrea Lee addressed the situation today in her own words. Andrea Lee vs. Kalindra Faria slated for UFC 216 — https://t.co/hPnJau1ZU4 pic.twitter.com/37Lgrd1Xl1

Justin Golightly - September 19, 2017

From time to time, the UFC sends out surveys to their athletes to get their opinion on certain things that the organization may have in the pipeline. An interesting question just caught UFC fighter Sean Strickland’s attention. A photo from Strickland’s Twitter account was posted, saying that USADA is considering a new tracking app that would allow them to always know an athlete’s location.

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

Two of the most talked about topics in MMA at the present time are performance enhancing drugs in MMA, and the dangers of weight cutting. While the UFC has partnered with USADA to crack down on the number of active fighters who use and abuse performance enhancing drugs, the question of what the UFC and athletic commissions can do about the dangers of weight cutting has remained one that has gone relatively unanswered.

bjpenndotcom - March 31, 2017

Since partnering with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the number of fighters who have been suspended for violating the USADA/UFC anti-doping policy has skyrocketed. With that being said, subsequently, the number of fighters using PEDs has dropped drastically. Now, going into April, the UFC has released its updated anti-doping policy under their USADA partnership, which includes updates to how long a fighter must be in the USADA testing pool before being ‘eligible’ to fight, as well as updates to the procedure when a fighter wants to come out of retirement to fight.

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

Late last year, featherweight superstar Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino failed a drug test administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Given that Cyborg has had issues with performing enhancers in the past, the MMA community was quick to pick up their torches and pitchforks and accuse her of cheating. In the end, however, Cyborg was granted a retroactive Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for Spironolactone, the substance in question. As such, she was cleared of any guilt, and will be able to continue to compete as normal. While Cyborg was proven innocent, however, many members of the MMA community still question the legitimacy of her legacy of dominance. In the opinion of Megan Anderson, who holds the Invicta interim featherweight title and stands out as one of Cyborg’s biggest rivals, this isn’t exactly just.

Russell Ess - March 8, 2017

Many fans were surprised when news came out that the UFC was notified that heavyweight Ben Rothwell was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a potential anti-doping policy violation. An out-of-competition sample collected on February 6, is what caused USADA to flag Rothwell with the potential violation.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2017

Former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar really couldn’t have looked any better in his UFC 200 fight against devastating striker Mark Hunt. Considering he hadn’t stepped foot in the Octagon in some five years, his scoring a three-round domination of a legitimate, top-10 foe was truly impressive. Unfortunately, Lesnar had the rug pulled out from under him in the days following the fight, when it was revealed that he’d tested positive for the estrogen blocker clomiphene. After a long legal process that saw Lesnar and his team attempt to blame his failed tests on everything from his foot cream to his eye medication, he was handed a year-long suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. They also fined him $250,000 and overturned his win over Hunt, changing the result to a no-contest.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2016

nothin like USADA deciding to join me on my date night with @mightywife 😎 pic.twitter.com/d5qzLrlszX — Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouse) December 19, 2016