Penn explains why he took an IV
BJ Penn admitted that he violated the policy, but only recently explained the situation to bjpenn.com
Last week it was revealed that BJ Penn was removed from UFC 199 after admitting to violating the UFC’s anti-doping by having an IV administered. Penn admitted that he violated the policy, but only recently explained the situation to bjpenn.com:
They said that after doing a physical on me and taking a look at my symptoms, a glutathione IV would be great for me. They told me that having the glutathione administered through an IV would be the best way for my body to absorb the antioxidant.
So the first thing I told them was that I am signed up with USADA year-round, so we have to take a look at their ‘banned substances list’ and make sure there is nothing in there.
We went through the banned substance list and of course glutathione was not on the list.
Once we discovered that nothing in the IV was on the banned substance list, I let the doctor administer the IV.
I was so focused on USADA’s banned substance list that I never gave any thought to the IV except for the fact that sometimes people had used them after weigh-ins before a fight.
