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Doping is a hard term to do away with where MMA is concerned. However, the sport has undergone many changes over the years to make it more safe. One of the biggest transformations for MMA was the UFC's alliance with USADA in 2015. Before that, there were talks of 50-90% of UFC athletes using steroids.
According to an indepenent study, fighters who were banned due to doping had a win percentage of 78% beforehand, falling to a staggering 45% after the ban. While there may be various factors potentially skewing the results, like the number of fights pre and post-ban, the role of doping in performance enhancement cannot be denied.
Here we take a look at five UFC greats whose careers took a dive due to doping allegations.
#5 Fighter alleged of doping: Brock Lesnar
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion was slapped with a one-year ban after testing positive for illegal substances before his fight with Mark Hunt at UFC 200. While Lesnar reportedly walked away with a purse of $2.5 million after his victory, the decision was overturned to a no contest after The Beast Incarnate tested positive for Clomiphene.
According to results from an out-of competition urine test in June 2016 and an in-competition test a month later, Lesnar tested positive for both Clomiphene and its metabolite, 4-hydroxyclomiphene. Clomiphene is an anti-estrogen agent that is banned for athletes as it can restart natural testosterone production.
Already coming off back-to-back losses against Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar has never fought in the UFC again following the scandal.
#4 Fighter alleged of doping: Chael Sonnen
Chael Sonnen was handed a two-year suspension by the Nevada State Athletic commission in 2014 after flubbing two random drug tests. The NSAC barred Sonnen from fighting in any other jurisdiction. They also asked him to pay all of the doctors' fees for the test. Sonnen had tested positive for substances such as Anastrozole and Clomiphene.
Anastrozole is typically utilized in the early stages to treat and prevent breast cancer. The second exam administered in Portland, Oregon also resulted in Sonnen having traces of performance enhancers such as Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and Recombinant Human Erythropoietin (EPO).
Chael Sonnen joined Bellator after the ban was lifted, submitting four samples which tested negative before signing. Showing remorse for his use of PEDs, Chael Sonnen told ESPN in a later interview:
"I don't like those things I did. They embarrass me. I steer into it sometimes, but the truth is that stuff embarrasses me. It was a different world with different times, and you have to change with those times or you're outside the lines. I was outside the lines. I should have been suspended [in 2014]. I was, and I did my time. I can tell you I'm not going back."
#3 Fighter alleged of doping: TJ Dillashaw
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion, TJ Dillashaw was handed a two-year ban by the New York State Athletic Commission after testing positive for Recombinant Human Erythropoietin (rHuEPO). Dillashaw's ban was effective retroactively as the positive results were from an in-competition test during his unsuccessful bid for the flyweight title against Henry Cejudo.
TJ Dillashaw did not protest the ban and owned up to doping. Dillashaw wrote in an Instagram post:
"I messed up.I've been having a hard time forgiving myself for this, which I should have a hard time. I understand the criticism that is going to be coming my way -- what I really feel bad about is any kind of bad light I brought about my coaches, my family and my teammates. They had no involvement in this."
#2 Fighter alleged of doping: Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva flunked an out-of-competition pre-fight drug test related to his UFC 183 headliner against Nick Diaz. Silva was banned for a year by the Nevada State Athletic commission after testing positive for drostanolone metabolites, indicating the use of anabolic steroids. He also tested positive for androsterone, a form of endogenous testosterone.
Silva later claimed that the failed tests were the result of a contaminated sexual enhancement pill. Nick Diaz also tested positive for marijuana metabolites in tests related to the fight, but these two doping offenses are nowhere near the same level as one another.
#1 Fighter alleged of doping: Jon Jones
Jon Jones' legacy as the greatest MMA athlete of all time has been severely marred by controversies related to doping. The one most detrimental to his fighting career was arguably the four-year ban before his rematch against Daniel Cormier at UFC 214. Unfortunately, this was neither the first nor the last time that Jon Jones would be associated with doping. Jones tested positive for the same performance enhancing drugs in his bouts against Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 and Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232.
According to UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance, Jeff Novitzky, Jones was tested an incredible 42 times by three separate entities in 2019 – allegedly the most of any athlete in one sport in a calendar year.
