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Nate Diaz
Martial ArtsMixed Martial Arts
Patrick Blennerhassett
Patrick Blennerhassett

The Takedown | UFC: Nate Diaz exposes the many fallacies of Usada’s drug testing and how stupid it is

  • A pot-smoking, vegan MMA fighter tests positive for a steroid before UFC 244: what part of this sounds normal?
  • Usada and Wada have some of the most complicated rules and regulations when it comes to various substances

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Nate Diaz testing positive for steroids should make us all question Usada and Wada. Photo: AFP
Patrick Blennerhassett

Like many MMA fans, when I first heard that Nate Diaz had tested positive in a pre-fight drug test by the United States Doping Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), I can’t say I was surprised.

Diaz is a known marijuana user and has been for years, even lighting up a CBD (cannabidiol) cigarette on stage during a UFC event in August. But his failed test before last weekend’s fight at UFC 244 against Jorge Masvidal in New York was for an organic, vegan, plant-based multivitamin which turned out to be contaminated with LGD-4033, a banned muscle-growth stimulant.

The drug is basically used for muscle wasting and weakness associated with ageing but is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for clinical use in humans. However, Usada admits on its website that “some products marketed as dietary supplements are spiked or contaminated with LGD-4033”, which is usually not mentioned on the label.

The UFC uses Usada as its official, independent anti-doping agency for all its fighters, but in unpacking Diaz’s failed test is where this gets interesting and downright wacky. Usada has a search function on its website where athletes can check various medications and supplements. They also list the top five searches, and to no one’s surprise, they are cannabis, Albuterol (for people with asthma), cannabidiol, caffeine (there are 22 subcategories which lead to multiple broken links) and Salbutamol (another type of asthma inhaler).

Nate Diaz took to Twitter to say he was not going to fight at UFC 244.
Nate Diaz took to Twitter to say he was not going to fight at UFC 244.
If you state that you are an athlete in the UFC, then search “Marijuana”, it comes under “Cannabis” and it tells you it is prohibited for “in-competition”, but not prohibited for out of competition.
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