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The UFC Anti-Doping Policy apparently applies to all UFC athletes except for Brock Lesnar. The policy requires that all UFC athletes be subjected to drug testing for a 4-month period prior to their bout.
This 4-month period was put in place to ensure that the MMA athletes – and especially those coming out of retirement -- have not used or benefited from the use of anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) leading up to the fight. Thus far, the rule has applied to everyone. But that has all changed now that Lesnar has been granted a generous exemption.
Lesnar doesn't have to undergo 4 months of drug testing. He only needs to comply with 4 short weeks of drug testing before he steps into the octagon against Mark Hunt at UFC 200 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 9, 2016.
Lesnar could have conceivably been preparing for his comeback all year long. He would have had time to follow an 8- to 12-week steroid cycle without fear of drug testing. And only after he was guaranteed to test clean would he announce his return to the UFC.
This makes a mockery out of the anti-doping program that Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky claimed was the best of all of professional sport.
Novitzky had reservations about accepting the UFC's offer. He suspected they just wanted to hire him for his reputation
“Is this just them taking advantage of my credibility in the anti-doping world and I get over here and they say, 'Hey, don’t really do anything. We’re just hiring your reputation,'” Novitzky said.
“But the more I evaluated it, the more I spoke with them about what their ideas were, the more I thought about it. It was, ‘God, what an opportunity in anti-doping.'”
Now, Novitzky has confirmation that his earlier suspicions were justified.
The UFC's waiver of the rules to allow the return of Lesnar certainly seems like a blatant disregard for the credibility of its anti-doping program. At the very least, it makes Novitzky look bad. Very bad.
Lesnar retired from the UFC in December 2011. He announced his return on June 3, 2016. Three days later, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) – the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy – entered his name into its testing pool of UFC athletes.
The UFC issues a press release rationalizing the special treatment given to Lesnar. It cited a loophole that specifically allowed it to waive the steroid testing requirements in certain situations that were considered “manifestly unfair to an Athlete”.
"On June 6, 2016, UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar was registered by USADA into the UFC Anti-Doping Policy testing pool. As part of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, UFC may grant a former athlete an exemption to the four-month written notice rules in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete. Given Lesnar last competed in UFC on December 30, 2011, long before the UFC Anti-Doping Policy went into effect, for purposes of the Anti-Doping Policy, he is being treated similarly to a new athlete coming into the organization.”
Lesnar's opponent at UFC 200 – Mark Hunt – was one of the first to criticize the UFC for its special treatment of Lesnar. He told UFC Fight Week that such an exemption was a bad move from the UFC.
“I don’t think that’s fair. I think it’s load of bullshit, I think it’s rubbish,” Hunt said. “I don’t think anyone should be exempt from testing. If they’re trying to clean the sport up — mixed martial arts — this is a bad way to do it. I don’t care who you are. It’s ridiculous.
“I don’t think it’s a great move. I think he’s juiced to the gills — and I still think I’m going to knock him out. So I don’t think that’s correct. I don’t think he should be allowed to get a four-month exemption otherwise everyone else should. Otherwise I should start juicing.
“How are you going to clean the sport up doing that shit? It won’t happen. I don’t think it’s fair.”
Meanwhile, Novitzky has be surprisingly quiet about the UFC temporary abandonment of its anti-doping principles.
This 4-month period was put in place to ensure that the MMA athletes – and especially those coming out of retirement -- have not used or benefited from the use of anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) leading up to the fight. Thus far, the rule has applied to everyone. But that has all changed now that Lesnar has been granted a generous exemption.
Lesnar doesn't have to undergo 4 months of drug testing. He only needs to comply with 4 short weeks of drug testing before he steps into the octagon against Mark Hunt at UFC 200 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 9, 2016.
Lesnar could have conceivably been preparing for his comeback all year long. He would have had time to follow an 8- to 12-week steroid cycle without fear of drug testing. And only after he was guaranteed to test clean would he announce his return to the UFC.
This makes a mockery out of the anti-doping program that Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky claimed was the best of all of professional sport.
Novitzky had reservations about accepting the UFC's offer. He suspected they just wanted to hire him for his reputation
“Is this just them taking advantage of my credibility in the anti-doping world and I get over here and they say, 'Hey, don’t really do anything. We’re just hiring your reputation,'” Novitzky said.
“But the more I evaluated it, the more I spoke with them about what their ideas were, the more I thought about it. It was, ‘God, what an opportunity in anti-doping.'”
Now, Novitzky has confirmation that his earlier suspicions were justified.
The UFC's waiver of the rules to allow the return of Lesnar certainly seems like a blatant disregard for the credibility of its anti-doping program. At the very least, it makes Novitzky look bad. Very bad.
Lesnar retired from the UFC in December 2011. He announced his return on June 3, 2016. Three days later, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) – the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy – entered his name into its testing pool of UFC athletes.
The UFC issues a press release rationalizing the special treatment given to Lesnar. It cited a loophole that specifically allowed it to waive the steroid testing requirements in certain situations that were considered “manifestly unfair to an Athlete”.
"On June 6, 2016, UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar was registered by USADA into the UFC Anti-Doping Policy testing pool. As part of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, UFC may grant a former athlete an exemption to the four-month written notice rules in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete. Given Lesnar last competed in UFC on December 30, 2011, long before the UFC Anti-Doping Policy went into effect, for purposes of the Anti-Doping Policy, he is being treated similarly to a new athlete coming into the organization.”
Lesnar's opponent at UFC 200 – Mark Hunt – was one of the first to criticize the UFC for its special treatment of Lesnar. He told UFC Fight Week that such an exemption was a bad move from the UFC.
“I don’t think that’s fair. I think it’s load of bullshit, I think it’s rubbish,” Hunt said. “I don’t think anyone should be exempt from testing. If they’re trying to clean the sport up — mixed martial arts — this is a bad way to do it. I don’t care who you are. It’s ridiculous.
“I don’t think it’s a great move. I think he’s juiced to the gills — and I still think I’m going to knock him out. So I don’t think that’s correct. I don’t think he should be allowed to get a four-month exemption otherwise everyone else should. Otherwise I should start juicing.
“How are you going to clean the sport up doing that shit? It won’t happen. I don’t think it’s fair.”
Meanwhile, Novitzky has be surprisingly quiet about the UFC temporary abandonment of its anti-doping principles.
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