The ethics of the use of performance-enhancing drugs, also known as doping, has been a controversial topic in the world of sports for many years. In the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the use of performance-enhancing drugs has the potential to significantly impact the fairness and safety of fights. In recent years the UFC has cracked down significantly on the use of PEDs inside of contests but for about 15 years they didn’t test as heavily as they do now. 

In 2015 the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) reached an agreement with the UFC to start facilitating testing for all UFC athletes for banned substances, which solidified the UFCs stance on PED usage in their sport. But since then athletes have been popping up for PED usage like crazy. Two massive stars for the UFC named Jon Jones, and T.J. Dillashaw were caught doping and instantly served a suspension and fined. Jones flagged in 2016 right before his match at UFC 200 with rival Daniel Cormier. Jones served a 12-month suspension and got his light heavyweight championship taken away. Jones later fought rival Cormier at UFC 232 for the vacant light-heavyweight championship which Jones won, then got flagged again for doping and was served a 15-month sentence and a $205,000 fine and vacated the championship again. T.J. Dillashaw was flagged after his loss to Henry Cujudo at “UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw”. Dillashaw served a two year suspension and was fined $10,000. He hasn’t been flagged again for doping. These two instances show that even top-level guys can be flagged for doping. Jon Jones is in the G.O.A.T debate, and T.J. Dillashaw is in that conversation for his weight class. Another example of this was when Former middleweight champion and G.O.A.T. of the middleweight division, Anderson Siva failed not once, but twice for doping. “Details of Silva’s second failed drug test emerged this week, casting his future into peril. The former UFC middleweight champion faces a possible four-year ban after turning up positive for synthetic testosterone and a banned diuretic in a sample collected in October 2017. His reps are apparently asking for a lighter sentence, arguing that Silva’s first test failures—for a pair of steroids in January 2015—didn’t fall under the auspices of the UFC’s current anti-doping policy and therefore shouldn’t count against him, according to Combate (h/t MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi). Silva, who initially denied knowingly taking performance enhancers, remained mum this week.”. Silva didn’t need to cheat to win, he was known as the best middleweight fighter ever! Right? This incident leaves a massive blemish on his otherwise perfect carrier, but this is irrecusably cheating. 

One argument against the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the UFC is that it gives an unfair advantage to those who use them. If one fighter is using performance-enhancing drugs while their opponent is not, it could give the doped fighter an edge in strength, endurance, or recovery time. This could lead to an unfair and potentially dangerous situation in the octagon. An example of this is Brock Lesnar at UFC 200. Brock Lesnar is a fan-favorite fighter who had forgone a lengthy break from the UFC, and due to the main events of UFC 200 falling through (Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, and Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz) the UFC needed a big draw for their 200th Pay-Per view show so they decided that they needed to bring back fan favorite Brock Lesnar. But Brock didn’t undergo the mandatory necessary 4 months in the USADA testing pool. He only took pre-fight and post-fight drug tests which he failed both. “But afterward, Lesnar tested positive for the banned substance clomiphene, an estrogen blocker.” Lange Pudmire from the LA Times reported. His opponent Mark Hunt was not on any type of steroids. And Unfortunately, Brock won the fight and later had the result changed to a no-contest afterward due to his failing of the drug tests. His opponent later sued the UFC. In 2016, former UFC fighter Mark Hunt sued the UFC, Dana White, and Brock Lesnar on the heels of UFC 200. Hunt claimed that the UFC and White, specifically, knew that Brock Lesnar had taken performance-enhancing drugs and let him fight anyway. Lesnar won the fight, but the decision was overturned to a no-contest when it was revealed that Lesnar failed a drug test. With that, Hunt alleged a slew of wrongdoings, including fraud, unjust enrichment, breach of contract, battery, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” Jason Morrin from ConductDetrimental.com reported. Another example of PEDs being unfair is during a 2013 bout between Former UFC middleweight champion and Hall of Famer Michael Bisping and Former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. Belfort was 36 when this fight happened and was on something called TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy). This meant that he had elevated testosterone levels for someone his age which helped with, strength, speed, and recovery time. TRT wasn’t yet on the ban list, but this fight and its implications led to it being on the ban list. Belfort was in the best shape of his life at 36 and had the testosterone levels of a 19-year-old male, with the combat experience of a 36-year-old man. He won this fight and in doing so landed a leg kick that detached Bisping’s retina, which lead him to go blind in that eye. Bisping would win the UFC championship after this but after issues with his other eye, he was forced to retire. “ After a back and forth first round, Belfort connected with a head kick that dropped Bisping. Belfort jumped on with some ground and pound and won the bout via knockout. However, the bigger issue was with Bisping, as it was revealed that Bisping had a detached retina as a result of the knockout. Doctors and Bisping didn’t even notice the injury until months later, which played into the severity of the injury. “. This already dangerous sport of fighting can be Jurrasicly more danger if one fighter Is on PEDs and the other one is not. This is supposed to be seen as the “Manly sport” yet all I see are a bunch of cowards who are scared to work hard so they cheat to win. Say NO to PEDs. 

Another concern is the potential long-term health effects of performance-enhancing drugs. Many performance-enhancing drugs are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency because they have been shown to have serious side effects, such as organ damage, hormonal imbalances, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. In a sport as physically demanding as the UFC, the use of performance-enhancing drugs could put fighters at an even greater risk for these types of health problems. The UFC has had no cases of organ failure, but this is mostly because it is a newer organization. The UFCs doors opened in the 1990s and had fought since then. But negative effects have been shown with the use of TRT in the UFC. People who had used the TRT in the UFC were helpless after its ban in 2014. Vitor Belfort won 2 of his last 6 fights after TRT, Chael Sonnen another TRT user won 2 out of his last 5, last Dan Henderson won 3 out of his Last 7. Additionally, the physiques and overall strength of the athletes diminished after the 2014 TRT ban. The fighters all had TUE (Therapeutic-Use exemption) due to low testosterone, but their low testosterone was most likely due to prior steroid use! “According to several doctors and scientists who weighed in over the years, the most likely culprit for low testosterone among pro fighters (assuming it was a condition that existed at all) was prior steroid use. That had the potential to shut down the body’s ability to produce testosterone naturally, sometimes for years.” Ben Fowlkes from MMAJunkie.com reported. These negatively affect other aspects of the lives of the fighters, such as their abilities to have families and their abilities to self-sustain. Say NO to PEDs. 

On the other hand, some may argue that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is a personal choice and that fighters should be allowed to make their own decisions about whether or not to use them. They may also point out that performance-enhancing drugs have been used in other sports, such as cycling and baseball, and that banning their use in the UFC could be difficult to enforce. This is true, that completely banning the use of steroids is and would be nearly impossible as there is no way for the UFC and USADA to know every PED known to man, but the UFC employing USADA to test their fighters shows initiative, an initiative to clean up their sport. They have caught more cheaters in the last 7 years, than in the entirety of UFC history before that date. “This includes all routes of administration (e.g., oral, intravenous, and inhaled). Most inhaled beta-2 agonists are prohibited, including arformoterol, fenoterol, indacaterol, levosalbutamol (levalbuterol) , orciprenaline (metaproterenol), olodaterol, pirbuterol, terbutaline, tretoquinol, tulobuterol.” This list is directly from the UFC and USADA website and is only a handful of the banned substances in the sport. The opinion that some people have about fighters using PEDs as a personal choice is a terrible opinion. That “personal choice” is eliminated when they sign the contract to go fight another man for 3-5 rounds. The fighters’ lives are in each other’s hands and luckily, we haven’t had a death in the UFC but if the use of PEDs is sanctioned, then that sad day may come sooner rather than later. Say NO to PED usage in sports. 

Ultimately, the ethics of performance-enhancing drug use in the UFC depend on one’s perspective. However, given the potential risks to both the fairness and safety of fights, it is important for the UFC to have strict rules and penalties in place to discourage the use of performance-enhancing drugs. It is also important for fighters to be aware of the potential consequences of using these drugs and to make informed decisions about whether or not to use them. Thankfully over the last couple of years, the UFC has taken a strict anti-PED stance against all usage and are saying NO to PEDs.