A UFC fighter has applied to be allowed to take a prohibited substance after failing a routine drugs test.
Things aren’t getting any better for UFC fighter George Sullivan. He was banned back in 2016 after failing a Unites States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) test conducted in July 31, 2016.
He admitted using a prohibited substance (IGF-1) and blamed its ingestion on using a dietary supplement (Deer Antler Velvet). He then said to USADA which supplement he was using and they had previously classified this as “high risk”, but Sullivan did not disclose this information during his sample collection. He denied ever cheating, though admitted using the nutritional supplement.
After admitting the one-year suspension by USADA, you’d think Sullivan would avoid using banned drugs, performance enhancers, peptides, HGH and anabolic steroids. Wrong.
Only weeks before his first suspension was ending, Sullivan, 35, has now failed an out-of-competition test. Once again, claiming this is a misunderstanding.
This time, he has been caught using Clomid (Clomiphene Citrate), a fertility pill, also often used to boost endogenous testosterone and sperm count. Clomid is also used as part of post cycle therapy (PCT) protocols when steroid users come off of steroids. Either way, it’s a banned drug by USADA.
Sullivan tried to explain this latest drug failure on Twitter: “Hey guys it’s a misunderstanding about a fertility pill I started taking 3 weeks ago to try and have a baby. dr Morgan is Sending in all of his paper work tomorrow to clear this up. I’m sad that it came to this my dr and I are shocked and we will clear this up. I have all the documents to prove it. I love my wife and starting a family is everything to us! God bless”.
However, both Lesnar and Jon Jones were busted for using Clomid and both banned. Applying for a therapeutic use exception (TUE) after being caught using the prohibited drug is unlikely to workout for Sullivan.
Unfortunately, USADA guidelines do not favour Sullivan. His usage of Clomid was not an “emergency”, nor is classified as an “exceptional circumstance”. Unfertility is not a sudden or acute condition, so he should of admitted to USADA he was using Clomiphene at the time of sample collection or applied for a TUE previously. He did neither.
Clomid is also not a licenced drug by the FDA for male fertility, but is for female breast cancer. He’s likely to be suspended again, making his changes of competing in the UFC in 2017 slim.
Source: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/1/31/14455470/ufc-fighter-tue-george-sullivan-brock-lesnar-jon-jones-clomiphene-clomid-fertility-steroids-usada
