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As a sign of a change of stance towards a frequent culprit in anti-doping cases, the US Anti-Doping Agency abruptly ended UFC's two-year suspension, Amanda Ribas.
USADA said that new tests had detected traces of ostarine at the trace levels, which had convinced the agency that a positive test result was the result of a contaminated supplement.
"USADA believes that it is fair to allow Ribas to resume the competition after serving the majority of its two-year sanctions," the agency said.
Ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (MRSA) banned all year, has trapped several UFC athletes in cases involving contaminated supplements. USADA has taken a tougher stance towards the companies that produce the banned substance, as several positive elements have been linked to contaminated supplements.
Ribas (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who failed an out-of-competition test on June 7, 2017, strongly denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs. She spent to test the supplements that she used at the time. The banned substance, clenbuterol, made its appearance, but it could not find the source of the positive test and agreed to a two-year suspension in January 2018.
"I feel extremely humiliated and the victim of being punished for something I did not do," she told MMA Junkie at the time of her suspension. "The fact that Clenbuterol appeared in one of my supplements is a testament to the poor quality and poor standards of most supplements on sale in Brazil and around the world.
"Of course, I used a supplement containing traces of ostarine, but since I did not think such things could happen, I must have exhausted it and thrown it away. "
Ribas is not the only fighter to criticize the handling of his file. UFC heavyweight, Josh Barnett, accused USADA of valuing disciplinary measures to the detriment of the rights of combatants; he took the agency to arbitration and managed to cancel a suspension to receive a verbal warning.
After recently granting a quartet of UFC fighters reduced suspensions for contaminated supplements, UFC's average weight at retirement, Tom Lawlor, asked why he had been sentenced to a two-year sentence for ostarine. In response, USADA explained that the test methods were not sophisticated enough to discern an unintended use of doping, and that the agency had simply followed the guidelines in force at the time. ;time.
USADA did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether the suspended suspension of Ribas could result in a reduction of Lawlor's case.
Ribas, 25, has not fought since May 2016, when she prevented Jennifer Gonzalez Araneda from winning her sixth professional victory.
"We would like to thank USADA for finally realizing that the positive of Amanda was not due to the use of PED, but to contaminated supplements," said the Ribas manager Alex Davis at MMA Junkie. "Unfortunately, by the time they realized it, Amanda had already served 95% of her suspension, which is about a year and three quarters of her young career. But it's not a perfect world. We are happy to finish and we think that Amanda will be a star of the UFC. "
Davis said Ribas remained under suspension from the Nevada Sports Commission, which regulated the event of the Ultimate Fighter Final 25 she suffered as a result of her positive test. But he added that the commission had indicated that it would follow the initiative of USADA and allow Ribas to fight. A match against Emily Whitmire is scheduled for the first match of Ribas with an octagon in June.
Here is the complete statement from USADA:
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) today announced that an athlete from the UFC® The anti-doping program of Amanda Ribas of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is entitled to a reduction of her initial two-year suspension. The period of ineligibility of Ribas is over and takes effect immediately.
Ribas, 24, obtained a positive result on the ostarine test following an out-of-competition urine test conducted on June 7, 2017. Ostarine is an unspecified substance belonging to the class of Anabolic agents and banned at all times by the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.
Ostarine, also known as MK-2866 and Enobosarm, is an unapproved FDA-approved selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) sold illegally as supplements in the US and around the world as a drug-enhancing substance. performance. MRSA are synthetic drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and have been associated with serious health risks, including liver damage and increased risk of heart attack or stroke. It is illegal to include MRSA in dietary supplements, but the ingredients are sometimes present in contaminated products, especially bodybuilding products, which are falsely labeled as dietary supplements. In recent years, the World Anti-Doping Agency has reported an increasing number of positive tests involving MRSA.
The FDA has also stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of MRSA in supplements and the USADA has supported legislative efforts, including the MRSA Control Act, to improve the capacity of the Drug Enforcement Agency. to act against MRSA. USADA has provided more information on the risks of ostarine in a notice to athletes.
The end of the Ribas sanction demonstrates USADA's recognition of the proven prevalence of ostarine in a wide range of supplements used by athletes (see USADA High Risk List for more than 70 products) and because ostarine has often been found to be a contaminant. The traces of ostarine found in the Ribas sample were made possible by sensitive detection capabilities in the laboratory and were followed by four negative tests. Ribas being unable to identify the source of his positive test and taking into account the likelihood that his positive test is the result of a food supplement contaminated with ostarine, USADA estimates that it is just to allow Ribas to return to competition after serving the majority of its two-year sanction.
The Nevada State Athletics Commission also sanctioned Ribas for two years, and USADA informed the Commission of its decision to reduce the sanction imposed by Ribas under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.
USADA runs the independent anti-doping program all year round for all UFC athletes. USADA is an independent, non-governmental and non-profit organization whose sole mission is to preserve the integrity of the competition, inspire the true sport and protect the rights of clean athletes. In order to help UFC athletes, as well as their support team members, understand the rules applicable to them, USADA provides detailed instructions on the anti-doping program website. of the UFC (https://UFC.USADA.org) regarding testing. Transformative and Prohibited Substances, How to Obtain Authorization to Use Essential Medicines, and the Risks and Dangers of Supplementing, Improving Performance Drugs and Recreation. In addition, the agency maintains a drug reference phone line, Drug Reference Online (https://UFC.GlobalDRO.com), conducts training sessions, and proactively distributes a variety of educational materials, such as Prohibited list, easy to consult wallet cards. , and periodic alerts of athletes. Many of the resources available to athletes are provided in several languages, including Russian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean and Japanese.
Along with education and controls, strong anti-doping programs allow for tips and whistleblower investigations. USADA provides a number of ways to report drug abuse performance enhancing in sport to protect clean athletes and promote a clean competition. Any tip can be flagged with the USADA Play Clean Tips Center, by email at [email protected], by phone at 1 877-Play Clean (1-877-752-9253). or by post.
For more information on the UFC's upcoming schedule, visit the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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