USADA terminates Amanda Ribas’ suspension

The advent of Reebok in the UFC on July 6, 2015, was devastating to Brazilian MMA fighters – sponsorships dried up, and opportunities withered. Still, it is life-changing for fighters of average means to sign with the UFC. 

On June 12, 2017, strawweight Amanda Ribas told FloCombat how she reacted when her manager Alex Davis called with news that she had earned a UFC contract.

“I cried, right? Because it is the beginning of the realization of a dream,” she said, naively. “I called my father. I told him and everyone stopped at the gym and they cried too. I came from a small town, and for me, it is an overcoming. There in the south of Minas we think this is not even possible. Getting signed with the UFC is an example for everyone there that it is possible. The first thing I did was cry a lot.”

On June 15, 2017, USADA announced that Ribas had been informed of a potential anti-doping violation – a positive test for ostarine following an out-of-competition urine test conducted on June 7, 2017. Ribas was removed from her UFC debut vs. Juliana Lima at the TUF 25 Finale on July 7 in Vegas.

On June 16, 2017, the fighter forcefully declared her innocence in a message to MMA Junkie.

I have been competing at a high level in judo and BJJ since I was very young. Recently, I have achieved my dream of fighting in the UFC. I’m completely against any form of cheating in sports, as the use of PEDs. During my whole career I have never made use of any illegal substance, and I did not use anything now. I have no idea as to the origin of my positive test with USADA. I am working with USADA along with my managers and trainers to find out how this happened. I will prove my innocence. I will fight in the UFC and I will become UFC champ!

On January 10, 2018, USADA announced that Ribas has accepted a two-year suspension; she wasn’t eligible to fight until June 7, 2019. There was no reduced sanction for accidental ingestion. In USADA’s eyes, Ribas’ case and T.J. Dillashaw injecting EPO into his butt are identical. It doesn’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing – USADA had lost its mind.

The next day Ribas issued a statement that was rightly anything but what USADA had described as “accepting.”

Those who know me, know my opinion and thoughts on PEDs. I was a Brazilian National Judo team member, and I am a professional MMA fighter. I have always been completely against any kind of cheating and the use of any of these kinds of products!

When the test came back positive, I, along with my manager and trainer, gathered all the supplements and medicines I had been using, and sent them to USADA to try to find out how this had shown up in my body. Not only had I not used it, up until that moment, I had never even heard of Ostarine!

After spending a lot of money on the testing of the supplements (which is paid for by the athlete), we were unable to find Ostarine in any of the products. However, we did find clumbeterol (sic), which also is a forbidden substance, but oddly enough, never showed up in my tests.

I have never used anything like this in my life, and I feel extremely humiliated and victimized at being punished for something I did not do. The fact that clumbeterol appeared in one of my supplements shows the poor quality and low standards of many of the supplement products on sale in Brazil and worldwide. For sure, I used a supplement that contained traces of Ostarine, but since it never occurred to me that things like this could happen, I must have used it up and thrown it away.

It happened to me, and it has happened to other Brazilian athletes as well as athletes from other countries. I want to declare my innocence, and leave an urgent warning to all other athletes in Brazil and worldwide. This happens! It represents a huge risk to our lives and our careers! I will make it my mission to tell the world what happened to me, so that maybe I can avoid it happening to somebody else!

I will serve my suspension, I will train hard, and I will come back and become UFC Champion!

Now USADA is trying to take it back. But you can’t take time back.

Amanda Ribas, of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is entitled to a reduction in her original two-year suspension. Ribas’ period of ineligibility has been terminated, effective immediately.

Ribas, 24, tested positive for ostarine following an out-of-competition urine test … Ostarine, also known as MK-2866 and Enobosarm, is a non-FDA approved selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that is illegally sold in supplements in the United States and worldwide as a performance-enhancing substance. SARMs are synthetic drugs that replicate the effects of testosterone and they have been linked to serious health risks, including liver damage and increased risk of heart attack or stroke. It is illegal to include SARMs in dietary supplements, but the ingredients are sometimes found in contaminated products, particularly bodybuilding products, that are falsely labeled as dietary supplements. In recent years, the World Anti-Doping Agency has reported an increasing number of positive tests involving SARMs.

The termination of Ribas’ sanction reflects USADA’s recognition of the demonstrated prevalence of ostarine in a wide range of supplement products used by athletes, and that ostarine has frequently been found as a product contaminant. The trace amounts of ostarine found in Ribas’ sample was made possible by sensitive laboratory detection capabilities and has been followed by four negative tests. As Ribas was unable to identify the source of her positive test, and taking into consideration the likelihood that her positive test was the result of an ostarine contaminated dietary supplement product, USADA believes it is fair to allow Ribas to return to competition after serving the majority of her two-year sanction.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission also sanctioned Ribas for two years, and USADA has informed the Commission of its decision to reduce Ribas’ sanction under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.

USADA didn’t even show the institutional character to offer an apology, and left unspoken what Ribas’ suspension should have been. Still, an apology doesn’t begin to atone for taking a very significant part of what is likely the brief, highest-earning window of her career.

Last month four fighters – Nicco Montano, Sean O’Malley, Augusto Mendes, and Marvin Vettori – were each been suspended for six months by USADA for ostarine, consistent with a contaminated supplement, rather than intentional use. Meanwhile, Ribas has been suspended for 23 months. She should have had four or five fights since the test, but because of USADA’s failure, she has had no fights, earning no income. 

USADA has gotten ahead of the science and is suspending fighters for devastatingly long periods of time without just cause. USADA was given a test, to fairly administer anti-doping tests, and they have failed. When fighters fail an anti-doping test, they are suspended. USADA likewise needs to be suspended by the UFC. Anything less is perpetuating injustice.