Accusations about CABMMA PED tests at UFC 179 prove to be false
S&C coach Chad Macias argued that CABMMA had falsely claimed to test Phil Davis for HGH at UFC 179; CABMMA had in fact said expliciltly that he was not tested.
Team Alliance MMA strength and conditioning coach Chad Macias recently appeared on BJ Penn Radio and made some startling allegations about drug testing at UFC 179. The regulating body in Brazil, Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) was responsible for all drug testing at the event.
MMAJunkie had reported that CABMMA said all UFC 179 competitors were tested for anabolic agents, diuretics/masking agents, stimulants and cannabinoids. Further, it was reported that CABMMA said the main and co-main event fighters – Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Phil Davis, and Glover Teixeira – were in addition tested for human growth hormone (HGH) and erythropoietin (EPO).
Macias, a Harris University grad, holds that the tests for HGH and EPO are blood tests, and that Team Alliance fighter Phil Davis was not subject to a blood test at the event.
Recently I was going through the headlines and I saw the drug tests came back from UFC 179,” began Macias, as transcribed by BJPenn.com. “I paid it no mind and just kept looking at other news and when I was bored I went back to the story and started reading a little bit. I noticed that the commission in Brazil, the CABMMA, announced that everybody came back clean, which is great, and also if you look at what their report said—which was obtained by MMAJunkie—additional, the events main and co-main bouts, which included José Aldo, Chad Mendes and Phil Davis vs. Glover Teixeira respectively, were tested for Human Growth Hormone and Erythropoietin or EPO. Which is great and I think that’s something that the sport is lacking in and I’ve been very vocal in.”
The problem with all this stuff is that Phil Davis was never blood tested, so that would make all of those test impossible. So that suggests to me that either the commission is flat-out lying or is demonstrating some egregious incompetence, and either way that is completely unacceptable, especially involving this subject.
This is something that Dana White is going to have to address because this is completely unacceptable, to be saying you’re testing for things without actually testing for them.
CABMMA responded that in fact Phil Davis was not tested for HGH, that they never said he was, and that, in fact, they had said he was not.
“… we never affirmed that Mr. Phil Davis did Hgh or any blood test before or after his fight, as stated on our official communication. That was only done on the fighters on the main event – Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes – after their fight. Mr. Phil Davis did our standard panel, plus we included EPO, all done through urine upon arrival at the arena, before his fight.”
MMAJunkie confirmed that CABMMA had not said Davis was tested for HGH; the Junkie story has been updated. accordingly.
Further, if you look at CABMMA’s original release in Portuguese, it does not anywhere state that the co-main event fighters were tested for HGH. It says the main event fighters were tested for HGH and EPO and that the co-main fighters were tested for EPO.
—
Note: This UG blog has been updated with new information from CABMMA. It originally read “CABMMA has not responded to a request for clarification on the tests. There could be a number of explanations for the alleged discrepancy, including urine tests for HGH and EPO that are not in wide use.”