Anti-Doping expert Jeff Novitzky, who is now the VP of health and performance of the UFC was on the Joe Rogan Experience a few days ago. What disturbed me was that he said that USADA will shelve and freeze urine and blood samples from all fighters. Months or years down the road when more sophisticated testing comes about, they are able to take those samples and re-test those same athletes. Meaning that a fighter can get late in their career or after their career is over. Just for an example can you imagine if a guy like GSP or BJ Penn who was appeared to be completely clean his whole career, never gets caught, and then years later they catch him for an undiscovered drug - that would damage their reputation and legacy forever. This is going to change MMA forever once we see a few high level guys get caught. This is scary to see what happens down the road.
I wonder if they can recover drug use from hair samples. Your going to see alot of bald fighters. That's ok eyebrows work fine too.
Ya that's probably the best thing they can do. Cheaters will always be ahead. But regulatory bodies will catch up. And if you can go back years later, the cheater is screwed.
They've been doing it in other sports for awhile now, and it hasn't hurt those sports one bit. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Whether you believe it or not some of the best athletes and your favorite fighters are taken PEDS that are hidden in drug tests - it is something that has affected all sports and always will. = a lot of fighters being banned.
I really don't think so. I think its much more damaging to a fighter to get caught while fighting. Losing your pay and losing years of fighting in your prime is way more damaging than being found a cheat when you're 50.
Just for clarification, this would mean they'd be able to re-test for substances that are currently banned (that they don't currently have the means/ability to test for) in the future? What about if fighters are currently using substances that are not banned but are banned in the future?
What legal authority do they have to punish an individual for a urine sample they provided years ago? Is there even a statute of limitation for this kind of thing. I'm also assuming this won't affect a drug that the individual used that was legal during the time it was collected, but made illegal later on?
Yes, true. But still damaging. Think of guys that retired from the UFC or had to retire and how that would affect them outside of the octagon. MMA fighters don't have many options once they stop fighting, so limiting those options can determine their future for the rest of their lives. Chuck Liddell still works for the UFC and has many avenues outside of fighting - that would have been different if he got caught a year or 2 after he retired.
This is my question as well. I'm assuming they re-test for things that were banned at the time but I really don't know.
It has nothing to do with the law. No one is being arrested or put on trial. And just because they freeze the samples for possible later testing, doesn
Seems clear to me that if the fighter wasn't using anything that was banned at the time of use, then he/she won't be sanctioned. An example of how this program would work: Lance Armstrong was using EPO in 1999. EPO was a prohibited substance in 1999 but no test for EPO had been approved. His samples were frozen and retested in 2005 after an EPO test was approved. Six of his samples came back positive.
I don't think it's about legal authority. The UFC can work with the athletic commissions and get old wins overturned to no contests, strip titles and issue suspensions. Imagine if Anderson's positive drug tests resulted in all his UFC wins turned into no contests, his title retroactively stripped, and a new two-year ban. They didn't go to that length, but they certainly have the authority to.
