Undefeated amateur featherweight Jamie ‘The Hurricane’ Herrington (7-0) has been stripped of her 2015 world title by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation. An independent tribunal appointed by the IMMAF determined that Herrington committed an anti-doping rule violation at the IMMAF World Championships in July of 2015 in Las Vegas. In addition to being stripped of her medal, Herrington has been banned from competition for four years.
Herrington was subject to a post-fight drug test, which was submitted to the World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory at UCLA. Both the A and B samples showed a positive result for amphetamines. The independent tribunal considered the fighter’s explanation for how the substance came to be present in her system, evidence of intention, and her degree of responsibility.
No reductions were found to be applicable, and the full four-year suspension was given. Herrington waived her right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Herrington was not subject to an order for costs.
The decision can be read here.
Herrington has also been removed from her Fivestar MMA team.
We were shocked and disappointed to hear from IMMAF about Jamie’s failed drug test. We have always had a no drugs/steroids/gang affiliation rule amongst our fight team in an effort to keep only the highest standard of athlete representing our team.
When receiving the news last year from IMMAF and Team Canada representatives we felt we had no choice but to remove Jamie from our fight team, the gym and any competition hosted by Fivestar. It was a heartbreaking situation for our coaching staff here who offered her a lot of support, training and funding to get her to the national tryouts and worlds just to be disappointed by her decisions.
Although it seems somewhat steep perhaps, we appreciate IMMAF’s stance on the punishment as they have been working very hard to have MMA added as an Olympic sport and such standards are necessary.
Jamie is an extremely talented athlete and we wish her the best in her future endeavours.
The Fort St. John, British Columbia native proclaimed her innocence in an interview with energeticcity.ca.
Herrington stated that she took Nyquil the night before her title fight, as she was not feeling well. She says that the pseudoephedrine that is present in Nyquil and acts as a decongestant is also a stimulant. According to her, the pseudoephedrine caused the false positive result for amphetamine in both of her results.
The people who know me and the friends and family that are close to me know that I am not involved in drugs or alcohol. That’s what I have to go on at the end of the day, said Herrington.
She added that she feels that the four-year suspension was also exceptionally harsh, pointing out to the suspensions handed out to several high-profile UFC fighters for using banned substances were all less than hers.
Herrington will be eligible to fight on September 3, 2019.
