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https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2018/6/...-out-unfair-positive-test-hydrochlorothiazide
Dos Santos expressed his disappointment with how his case was handled by USADA in a fantastic, in-depth interview with Fernanda Prates at MMA Junkie, detailing how he was forced to sit out and spend significant amounts of money attempting to clear his name, only to still receive a suspension, despite great effort to avoid contaminated supplements. His supplement was contaminated with hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic that is notorious for even contaminating medications, let alone supplements.
What made things worse was that dos Santos, along with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Marcos Rogerio De Lima, had specifically chosen to get their supplements from a compounding pharmacy based on claims that its supplements are free from cross-contamination. Outside of being at a remarkable disadvantage of taking no supplements whatsoever, there isn’t much more a fighter could do to try to avoid contaminated supplements.
I remember I made a comment like, ‘Was it, really? Because if he hadn’t taken anything, he wouldn’t have been caught. I have no words to describe it because it was a very sad situation. Being accused of something that I always defended, which was USADA’s presence, making this a clean sport. And suddenly to have people labelling me a liar? That was heavy. That was very heavy for me.
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In my mind, I was thinking it’s not right. Something wrong is going on here and probably [USADA] will find out the truth very fast and they will release me from this cage, from this situation. That didn’t happen. They started to investigate and investigate. I’ve been supporting USADA all the time, I’ve been playing the fair game the whole time. The only organization in this whole world that could tell everybody else that I was saying the truth was USADA, but they were doing the opposite. I thought, with USADA’s experience and their understanding, that they would be able to say what was a contamination and what wasn’t,” dos Santos said. “Not just because of the substance, but the amount, as well. But that’s not how it happened. I know I’m in a sport that has suffered, and still suffers, with guys who try to find shortcuts to win, My hope now is that USADA does more studies on this. It can’t be that with all their capabilities, all the experience they have, they can’t tell who was victim of contamination and who wasn’t. I know it isn’t that simple, but I hope they find a way.
The UFC generally won’t book fighters who have a positive test awaiting resolution, and pulls them from any scheduled fights, meaning athletes sometimes have to choose between taking the time and expense to investigate their supplements and take USADA to arbitration, or just taking the suspension so they can fight and pay their bills. Dos Santos had to pay to have his supplements tested, which cost thousands and thousands of dollars, he was unable to fight while trying to clear his name, and he even lost a gig commentating on UFC cards on network TV in Brazil.
I think in situations like these, they shouldn’t take the fighters off fights. They should keep the fighter in the fight, and in case culpability was proven, then they could penalize them in an even harsher way. I know it sounds scary, but what’s happening is that we’re getting punished before we’re even judged. We need to discuss this more. We need to bring this subject to light so it doesn’t happen anymore. Because fighting is our life. It’s all that we do. Imagine, for instance, a case in which the person can’t defend themselves and get a longer suspension. This is an entire life on hold. This can’t happen. This is a very serious subject, so it’s important that we discuss it more and more.
The investigation into Junior’s failed test apparently took nine months to come to the conclusion that he should get a six-month suspension. Fighters are put in a situation where they either agree to the suspension USADA offers, or go through a process that will drag on for months, one that often involves the fighter paying for tests and attorneys. Even if they prevail at arbitration, they lose. No one reimburses them for the missed fights and the money spent defending themselves.
Dos Santos expressed his disappointment with how his case was handled by USADA in a fantastic, in-depth interview with Fernanda Prates at MMA Junkie, detailing how he was forced to sit out and spend significant amounts of money attempting to clear his name, only to still receive a suspension, despite great effort to avoid contaminated supplements. His supplement was contaminated with hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic that is notorious for even contaminating medications, let alone supplements.
What made things worse was that dos Santos, along with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Marcos Rogerio De Lima, had specifically chosen to get their supplements from a compounding pharmacy based on claims that its supplements are free from cross-contamination. Outside of being at a remarkable disadvantage of taking no supplements whatsoever, there isn’t much more a fighter could do to try to avoid contaminated supplements.
I remember I made a comment like, ‘Was it, really? Because if he hadn’t taken anything, he wouldn’t have been caught. I have no words to describe it because it was a very sad situation. Being accused of something that I always defended, which was USADA’s presence, making this a clean sport. And suddenly to have people labelling me a liar? That was heavy. That was very heavy for me.
/
In my mind, I was thinking it’s not right. Something wrong is going on here and probably [USADA] will find out the truth very fast and they will release me from this cage, from this situation. That didn’t happen. They started to investigate and investigate. I’ve been supporting USADA all the time, I’ve been playing the fair game the whole time. The only organization in this whole world that could tell everybody else that I was saying the truth was USADA, but they were doing the opposite. I thought, with USADA’s experience and their understanding, that they would be able to say what was a contamination and what wasn’t,” dos Santos said. “Not just because of the substance, but the amount, as well. But that’s not how it happened. I know I’m in a sport that has suffered, and still suffers, with guys who try to find shortcuts to win, My hope now is that USADA does more studies on this. It can’t be that with all their capabilities, all the experience they have, they can’t tell who was victim of contamination and who wasn’t. I know it isn’t that simple, but I hope they find a way.
The UFC generally won’t book fighters who have a positive test awaiting resolution, and pulls them from any scheduled fights, meaning athletes sometimes have to choose between taking the time and expense to investigate their supplements and take USADA to arbitration, or just taking the suspension so they can fight and pay their bills. Dos Santos had to pay to have his supplements tested, which cost thousands and thousands of dollars, he was unable to fight while trying to clear his name, and he even lost a gig commentating on UFC cards on network TV in Brazil.
I think in situations like these, they shouldn’t take the fighters off fights. They should keep the fighter in the fight, and in case culpability was proven, then they could penalize them in an even harsher way. I know it sounds scary, but what’s happening is that we’re getting punished before we’re even judged. We need to discuss this more. We need to bring this subject to light so it doesn’t happen anymore. Because fighting is our life. It’s all that we do. Imagine, for instance, a case in which the person can’t defend themselves and get a longer suspension. This is an entire life on hold. This can’t happen. This is a very serious subject, so it’s important that we discuss it more and more.
The investigation into Junior’s failed test apparently took nine months to come to the conclusion that he should get a six-month suspension. Fighters are put in a situation where they either agree to the suspension USADA offers, or go through a process that will drag on for months, one that often involves the fighter paying for tests and attorneys. Even if they prevail at arbitration, they lose. No one reimburses them for the missed fights and the money spent defending themselves.
