Former featherweight title contender Chad ‘Money’ Mendes was handed a two-year ban after failing a random urine test he underwent on May 17. On Wednesday, the United States Anti-Doping Agency handed UFC featherweight star Chad Mendes a two-year suspension for using a prohibited substance.
Per an official USADA statement (via MMA Fighting's Luke Thomas), Mendes tested positive for GHRP-6 in an out-of-competition drug test on May 17. Per ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto, GHRP-6 "signals glands to produce growth hormone [but] is not a growth hormone itself."
Чад Мендес на взвешивании перед боем
Mendes, whose suspension began June 10, is the third major UFC fighter to be dinged for a failed drug test in two weeks. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was pulled off the UFC 200 card three days before the event for failing a drug test, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him pending a full hearing, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports. Brock Lesnar, who defeated Mark Hunt via unanimous decision at UFC 200, failed two USADA drug tests, including one on the night of the fight, per Okamoto.
Okamoto reported that Lesnar and Jones were flagged for the same substance, clomiphene, which is an anti-estrogen blocker. With Jones and Lesnar still yet to receive suspensions, it is almost a certainty that there will be further casualties in the USADA era. There are currently 18 fighters on the UFC’s books who have been flagged by USADA, which would suggest that Mendes is not the last person that will suffer a career-altering ban.
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Почему я бьюсь: Чад Мендес
Consequences and Career Impact
While Jones and Lesnar await their punishment from the USADA, Mendes will have to wait 23 months before he can step back into the Octagon. The 31-year-old last fought in December 2015, when Frankie Edgar knocked him out in the first round. There's little upside for Mendes, aside from the fact he will be only 33 years old when he's eligible to return.
He's been around the featherweight title picture for years, losing three championship fights, including two since October 2014. Mendes' only losses have come against former UFC lightweight champion Edgar, former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo (twice) and current UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
Конор МакГрегор против Чада Мендеса на UFC 189
Mendes' Explanation and Acceptance
Chad Mendes didn't ask for sympathy or plead for mercy after testing positive for a banned substance, no matter how much he insists he wasn't trying to cheat. Mendes hasn't said anything since the two-year ban was handed down by USADA a week ago, but he finally broke his silence in a new interview with The Drive in Sacramento, in which he talked about the drug responsible for the positive test.
"GHRP-6 is what it was. Before all this came out, I had no idea what the hell that stuff was," Mendes explained. "When my test results came back and they told me that's what I tested positive for, I was like I don't even know what that is. I started doing a bunch of research and one thing I want to clear up to the people calling me 'roid head' and 'juice head' and stuff like that - this isn't even a steroid. It's a peptide."
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Psoriasis and the Use of Banned Substance
According to Mendes, the substance containing GHRP-6 was a cream that he used to treat plaque psoriasis, which is a skin condition he's been dealing with for years. "I have it all over my shins, my entire scalp is covered in it, it's all over my ears, I get a big patch of it on my side. I've had that since I can even remember," Mendes said.
Mendes said he's used just about every treatment under the sun to control the psoriasis on his body, but nothing has really helped in the past. The cream he used containing GHRP-6 was just the latest in a long line of options Mendes has tried while keeping the skin condition at bay. "I've tried going seeing specialists and there's a couple options I can do with them and it's like take a pill, which is god awful for your liver and just tears your stomach up. There's ointments and creams that they've given me but those destroy my immune system," Mendes said.
"I'm training like two or three times a day during a training camp. If I'm putting this stuff on at night before bed or something, I can't be getting sick throughout my training camp. I can't be getting sick right before a fight. It's just not an option so I can't use those. They've talked about giving me a shot and I've done research on that and that's also super bad on your liver."
Псориаз против экземы
Accepting Responsibility
Once Mendes found out the cause behind his positive test, he knew there was no way to fight the oncoming sanctions from USADA as a result. Of course he was disappointed to concede to a two year suspension for using skin cream to help his psoriasis, but Mendes knows it was still his fault for doing it without checking the ingredients first.
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"This was one of the cases that it had something in it that was on the USADA 'banned list'. My situation was just kind of bad luck I feel. Ultimately, I broke the rules. Did I use it? Of course. I didn't try to go to USADA and try to make up some BS story, trying to lie my way out of it," Mendes said. "I broke the rules. Whether it's intentional or not, it's still breaking the rules. I told them I don't expect any special treatment."
Looking Forward
Mendes already had planned on sitting out for all of 2016 to rest and recover after back-to-back losses to Conor McGregor and Frankie Edgar last year, while also launching a new celebrity hunting business at home in California. Now he'll be forced to sit out for two full years while waiting for his suspension to be lifted and while the time off stings, Mendes knows crying about it won't do him any good either.
"Two years is a long time, especially in this sport, especially for a first-time offender, especially over something that is not a steroid," Mendes said. "It's a tough situation. There are rules, they are in place, I think USADA's doing a great job with that and I can't be the one to break the rule and then be like 'I want special treatment.' It's just tough."
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