Issue 087

April 2012

Winners never cheat and cheaters never win

Ultimately a fighter steps into the Octagon aiming to leave victorious. Mixed martial arts is a sport with a win-at-all-cost mentality, albeit following the rules set by the hosting organization. And one such rule, adhered the world over, is the compliance of a drug-free sport. 

Gareth Nicholas

Nutrition expert 

To quote UFC president Dana White: “You have to be a moron to do steroids in this sport.” Unfortunately, not every fighter would agree with a minority deciding to gain an unfair advantage and knowingly take a banned substance(s) to improve their performance. Admittedly, it’s not always cheating – on occasion a fighter does fall foul of inadvertently taking a banned substance. 

Recently this has come to light with the decision to strip the featherweight title from Strikeforce’s Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos, following a positive test for steroids after her 16-second defeat of Hiroko Yamanaka. From both an athlete and nutritional company’s perspective this is not good enough and thankfully now an athlete can take sensible steps to avoid a situation which can otherwise spell the end of a career by choosing a reputable brand who screen their products for contaminants.  

Supplement Contamination 

Cyborg maintained that in preparation for her title fight she was finding it difficult to make weight. Therefore, the decision was taken to supplement with a dietary aid. Before consumption, this product was assured to be safe and not prohibited from use. Here lies the problem. 

Many of the products on the open market seem safe for consumption, but later are discovered to contain a banned substance. Between 2000 and 2002 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) conducted a study into supplement contamination. The main findings highlighted that of the 634 products analyzed (from 13 countries) 14.8% of the products contained steroids and prohomones, all of which were not declared on the product label and could result in a failed drugs test. Worryingly for fighters around the world, 18.9% of the products tested were shown to be contaminated.

Drug Regulation 

As with many sports, MMA conforms to the regulations laid down by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to uphold a drug-free sport. Established in 1999, WADA is an independent agency that governs anti-doping and stipulates banned substances. However, having a standard does not solve the problem, especially when contamination is concerned. 

Currently there is no directive that stipulates the testing of sports supplements, hence the large number of contaminated substances mentioned early. In the UK this has been highlighted and HFL Sport Science in South England has started to try and tackle the problem by offering the Informed-Sport program. Informed-Sport has been set up to monitor and test supplement manufacturing; contaminate testing in line with substances on the WADA list and in accordance with the British ISO 17025 (standard for laboratory testing processes). 

Currently this is still just a service and not a directive however to-date the Informed-Sport program is the only safe guard that tests against supplement contamination. 

Informed-Sport Contaminate Testing

Many sports nutrition companies have recognized the need for a standard in contamination testing and therefore have signed up to the Informed-Sport program. 

In the UK, when and if compliant, a tested and approved product should bear the Informed-Sport logo to highlight it’s been tested. Informed-Sport also publicize products, batch numbers and companies that confirm to the program on their website (informed-sport.com). 

Maxinutrition is one such company who in fact led the way with supplement screening in 2002, testing every single batch prior to sell. Ask yourself, if you are using or planning to use sports supplements are they safe? Are they tested? Like Cyborg, you wouldn’t want to lose a fight and what’s more be labeled a cheat! 

It won’t go away on its own

Cheating will always be a problem, fortunately governing bodies like WADA are trying to help and make cheating a thing of the past. Hopefully, with programs such as Informed-Sport, contamination and the disappointment associated with it will follow suit. Don’t leave things to chance, before you use a product check that it is safe. After all, cheaters never win and winners never cheat.