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Erythropoietin or EPO, is a hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells. How exactly does that help fighters? Here’s a snippet from David Castillo’s Steroids from A-Z, and how they work to improve athletic performance:
Your red blood cells work like magnets in relation to the oxygen you take in; part of your RBC’s contain hemoglobin, an iron molecule that binds to that oxygen. The more RBC’s your body produces then, the more oxygen your body can hold. This is why it’s so popular and critical in endurance sports like cycling.
This is the same drug 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong admitted to using heavily during his career, despite not ever really testing positive for it. In MMA, fighters such as Chael Sonnen, Ali Bagautinov and Gleison Tibau have all failed tests for EPO.
Full story: https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2018/4/...j-dillashaw-of-using-epo-ped-steroids-mma-ufc