After doping controversy, N. Diaz is kept in UFC 244. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @ufc
Famous for not mincing words and dealing with his affairs in the world of MMA the way he sees fit, Nate diaz once again led to an uncomfortable situation for the Ultimate board. After being notified by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), last week, under the claim that they had found prohibited substances in an exam, the North American went public and disclosed the case, claiming that he was innocent and withdrawing from the card UFC 244, which takes place this Saturday (2). The case, as expected, had great repercussion and, within a few days, it was clarified that the combatant could carry out the duel.
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The substance found in Diaz's body is called LGD 4033, an androgen receptor that can be used in people with loss of muscle mass. This fact irritated the protagonist of this weekend's event, who has always been attentive and critical of controversies involving fighters who tried to benefit by using products that would condition an increase in performance.
Even before USADA or Ultimate made an official statement about Nate's situation, the athlete preferred to use social media to withdraw from the event and guarantee his innocence. In the same publication, the fighter demanded that the investigations be carried out correctly so that they would not tarnish his trajectory as an athlete, who, despite being controversial, had never failed a test in this category.
In his defense, Diaz stated that he only uses 100% natural foods, ruling out any hypothesis of intentional ingestion or bad faith during his training period.
After the American's statement, information about the case began to appear in the press and what was reported was that the amount of substance found in the fighter's body was not enough for the athlete to be removed from the card or even punished. What would have happened could have been the ingestion of some contaminated food and the combatant would not have consumed it consciously.
After all, what did the athlete ingest?
According to an official statement from USADA, released after Diaz's statement, LGD 4033 was ingested from a vitamin purchased in a store famous for selling natural and healthy products, known as 'Whole Foods Market'. The Anti-Doping Agency's statement, therefore, served to clear Nate of any doubts regarding his sporting nature.
questioning
Even with USADA's clarification, it is necessary to think about whether what they revealed is, in fact, true, or there is the possibility that there was a maneuver so that the athlete could be kept on this weekend's card and Ultimate did not had to bear imminent loss.
What sense would it make for an establishment known for the quality of its natural products to adulterate a vitamin complex by adding a substance made in a laboratory that would easily be caught in a possible test by a professional athlete? The doubt can be easily attributed to the case, since, in a short space of time, it was possible to carry out clinical analyzes and correctly identify the place and product of consumption.
In fact, Diaz is not the first combatant to be caught in this type of examination nor to be acquitted after an in-depth case study. However, the time to resolve the matter was short and open to doubt.
Similar cases
Recently, one of the most promising athletes in Ultimate, Sean O'Malley his name was involved in a doping situation. The athlete, who is undefeated in his professional MMA career, was suspended for six months and, in defense, claimed that he was a victim of contaminated supplements, as had happened to Diaz. O’Malley hasn’t fought since March last year and recently secured his return to the Octagon next year.
Another situation involving a combatant, but which had a happy ending – at least financially – was with the former middleweight title challenger, Yoel romero. In 2016, the Cuban was notified by the woman accused of having ingested Ibutamoren, a substance that increases the production of hormones. At the time, the athlete had received a nine-month ban.
Romero, however, became the first athlete to appeal a decision imposed by the agency. In May of this year, the athlete proved his innocence after winning a case against a company that had sold products containing supplements with portions of contaminated substances, which the athlete had claimed in his defense in the past.
With the outcome, the Cuban ended up receiving US$27,45 million (around R$107,211 million) and proving his innocence to the agency and his fans.
What Ultimate would lose with Nate's absence
To carry out the confrontation between Jorge masvidal e Nate diaz, the UFC invested heavily. The athletes were chosen to star in the main fight of the night after the board was unable to reach a financial agreement with Colby covington to face the welterweight champion (up to 77kg.), Kamaru Usman.
With the Americans in the spotlight in the company and coming off good victories, it was up to Dana White to settle the conditions of his employees and confirm the meeting at Madison Square Garden (New York), one of the main fight stages in history.
In addition to the pomp of the venue, the Ultimate board also created a symbolic belt, which will be given to the winner of the meeting and delivered by none other than The Rock, one of the biggest stars in action cinema today. The made belt has a value of approximately US$50 thousand (around R$200 thousand) and pay-per-view sales are going full steam ahead.
With the star of the night leaving with little more than a week for the show to take place, it would be catastrophic for the company, as it would be practically impossible to find an athlete ready to fight and who would bring public and sales to the show. UFC 244.
Similar situation with UFC 244
In 2016, there was a similar case in Ultimate. Just two days before the rematch between Daniel Cormier e Jon Jones, at UFC 200, the champion was caught taking an anti-doping test and ended up leaving the card with less than 48 hours. In this ocasion, Anderson Silva offered to face DC and try to save the show. Silva ended up defeated, but managed to help the organization.
New USADA policy
Ultimate spoke out about maintaining the main fight of the UFC 244. According to a publication on the company's own website, new policies have been adopted in relation to anti-doping tests since March this year. The UFC stated that when the levels of prohibited substances found in an athlete's tests are considerably low – like Diaz's – the fighter will not suffer immediate punishment until new analyzes are carried out. Read part of the document.
” Since August 31, 2019, some significant changes to the UFC Anti-Doping Policy have been agreed in principle between the UFC and USADA and, as such, have been put into practice. One such change is the adoption of science-based concentration levels, also known as minimum thresholds, for certain prohibited substances, where evidence demonstrates that positive tests of those substances below the threshold are consistent with innocent contamination. A positive sample of an applicable substance below the decided concentration level results is treated as an atypical finding. An atypical finding will not result in a violation in the absence of other facts or circumstances confirming that the athlete intended to obtain an unauthorized therapeutic benefit or performance enhancement through use of the substance,” they wrote.
outcome
Nate was never removed from the card. Since the beginning of the story, the fighter has been maintained by the company. One has to think that everything was resolved in a few days, when, in other cases, situation definitions take months to be resolved. On Ultimate's social networks, promotion of the fight continues in full swing, with interviews, videos and photographs of the athletes in the main fight.
Everything seems right for the show to take place.
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