Damien: The New Era Of UFC
While the $4 billion dollar headline for the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been it's new ownership, headlined by WME-IMG and Ari Gold, errr… Ari Emanual, it's a partnership announced just over a year ago that has truly changed the complexion of the sport's most powerful company.
In June of 2015, the UFC became the first major sports organization to turn their drug testing policy over to an outside agency. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the most comprehensive drug testing firm in the country, began handling all UFC drug tests beginning July 1. With this new partnership came 2,750 drug tests a year, or roughly five tests per fighter, and huge punishments for violations of any sorts.
Most MMA fans knew they'd see a change. To what degree remained to be seen, but there had to be a change. Whether it was bodies, stamina, or strength, USADA being involved and the strict commission penalties meant if a fighter was on, they were getting off.
Or so we thought…
In a span of a few weeks, three headline fighters, including two of the three biggest names in the sport, were flagged for USADA violations: Chad Mendes, Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar.
Now, let's remove Lesnar from this equation. He's the biggest star in the UFC and he proved that by showing up for one fight, on one night, for a massive payday - not to mention a huge pay per view buy rate (likely the 3rd highest in history).
He's also the biggest star the WWE has to offer. So big in fact, he's not even subject to the WWE's Wellness Policy (their in house version of "drug testing"). I'm guessing he genuinely doesn't care he failed two tests for clomiphene - one 11 days before the fight and one the day of the fight.
Clomiphene, by the way, is a banned substance used by athletes largely for help in getting a body's natural production of testosterone back to normal after a steroid cycle.
Apparently, this is news to Jones…
He was flagged for the same drug. Unlike Lesnar, he failed his test far enough in advance he was pulled from the fight 30-something hours before he was set to step in the Octagon to take on Daniel Cormier.
You can take that Tweet to mean whatever you'd like. The assumption among many is Lesnar and Jones have been on PED's for the bulk of their respective careers. Jones wants others to see it differently.
That brings us to Mendes.
Mendes, a member of team Alpha Male appeared on The Drive with Dave, Kayte, and Nate and spoke "openly" for the first time regarding his violation and subsequent 2-year suspension.
"GHRP-6 is what it was," Mendes said. "Before all this came out, I had no idea what the hell that stuff was. When my test results came back and they told me that's what I tested positive for, I was like I don't even know what that is. I started doing a bunch of research and one thing I want to clear up to the people calling me 'roid head' and 'juice head' and stuff like that — this isn't even a steroid. It's a peptide."
Mendes claimed he could have doctors come in from John Hopkins and prove it was an accident.
Okay.
This is the thing Jones and Mendes don't seem to understand, ignorance is no longer an excuse. "I didn't know" or "it was an accident" won't work anymore. They've both painted themselves as victims of an overly strict drug testing policy they don't seem to fully understand. Judging by their "I didn't know" defense, they actually don't understand!
USADA has a website that every athlete being tested by the agency must go to and log where they will be that day, that week, that month. That website also has a database in which they enter every vitamin, supplement, supplement ingredient, medicine… Every single thing they put in their bodies they enter into that website and it tells you if it's clear or not.
Listening to Mendes talk, he seems to have a full understanding of his suspension. Whether you believe is intensions or not is a completely different story.
Footnote - it took all of 2 minutes and one Google search to figure out why GHRP-6 is illegal…
"GHRP-6 lacks opioid activity, but you get a huge pulse, (dose dependent) in your own GH levels, and you get the effects of the increased IGF-1 secreted by the liver. Now both the increased GH and IGF-1 are highly desirable for athletes, bodybuilders and those looking to improve their own physique."
"Now, you may have heard many bodybuilders saying that when you take GHRP-6 that they get a huge and very intense increase in appetite, about 20 mins after the initial injection. Well, this is caused by the GHRP-6 antagonising the peptide Ghrelin, it mimics it, but, in reality, it actually fights against it causing the signal for gastric emptying and hunger. If you take more than 150mcg the effects of the gastric emptying can be so strong that you may have the urge to severely stuff yourself with food, so if you're on a bulking cycle this is a great side effect, and, considering the price, it's a very cost-effective one. Therefore, during a bulking run, I rate this as the number one aid in increasing appetite, as you also get very a good anabolic effect and increased strength."
Oh, wait, one more footnote - have you ever had a bug bite? A rash? Some type of skin irritation? What does the doctor prescribe you? Cortisone cream. Why? Because it rejuvenates skin cells. How? Because its a steroid.
