UFC will no longer ban fighters who test positive for marijuana
A new ruling on Thursday confirmed that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has removed marijuana from the list of banned substances.
USADA is responsible for testing UFC fighters before, during, and after their fights. This new ruling means that UFC would not be banning or suspending fighters who test positive for it.
Explaining the decision on MMA Fighting, UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance, Jeff Novitzky, said that he was made aware of the fact that many fighters use it do deal with stress before a fight or as medication.
He said he was not happy with telling them to get off marijuana and indirectly making them move on to more serious drugs.
“I felt horrible passing that information along to fighters saying, ‘Get off the marijuana but you’re good taking Xanax, Ambien and Vicodin before a fight.’ It’s not right.”
Matt Riddle jokes about UFC marijuana ban being uplifted as a “birthday gift”
Current WWE wrestler Matt Riddle never lets us forget about his UFC past, and there is no reason why he should stop.
Riddle was dominant in the promotion since his Ultimate Fighter debut in 2008 to his last fight in February 2013. But his time ended with the promotion due to him testing positive for cannabis twice.
Two of his UFC wins, one in 2012 against Chris Clements and the second one in 2013 against Che Mills, were overturned to No Contests due to him testing positive for marijuana.
This made his record come down from 10-3-0 to 8-3-2. That is why he describes this as a “birthday gift” which has come 9 years too late for him. And, according to him, his record stands at 10-3, and not 8-3-2.
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