Cris Cyborg's USADA Violation Could Derail UFC Featherweight Division
With its first official fight on the radar, the UFC women’s FW division has suffered a big blow as Cris Cyborg was notified of a potential doping violation.
It’s deja vu all over again. Don’t look now, but Cris Cyborg Justino has been notified by USADA of a potential Anti-Doping policy violation, the UFC confirmed today in an official statement. That means the biggest star in the women’s featherweight division could be off the market for a while — and derail the UFC’s plans for a third female weight class.
It’s like the Grinch who stole Christmas showing up a few days early. The buzz in the MMA world of late (outside of Aldo/McGregor/Holloway) has been the launch of the UFC’s 145-pound weight class for women. It was off to a rocky start when Cyborg was passed over (her side of the story is that she couldn’t make weight in time) for the inaugural championship fight, which instead will feature Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie. That goes down at UFC 208.
Now, it seems the biggest star in the weight class could be out of the picture for some time. This isn’t a first: Justino tested positive for metabolites of an anabolic steroid (stanozolol) back in 2011 and was stripped of her Strikeforce title. That made her the butt of any number of jokes in the MMA world, and of harsh criticism from the likes of Ronda Rousey.
This, however, may be worse. While it could turn out to be a small blessing that Cyborg was not tapped to fight for the 145-pound title, without her presence, the division lacks star power. Sure, Ronda Rousey could go up for a “super” fight with the winner of Holm vs. de Randamie (which really works best with a Holm win at UFC 208), but after that?
Cyborg was the name the division should have been built around. Now, she could potentially derail it before it ever gets off the ground.
Of course, we don’t know what the potential violation was for: USADA doesn’t announce such details and is careful to mention the legal process when announcing test failures like this. Cyborg’s rep Ray Elbe did release the following:
Not for a steroid, and she has a prescription as part of the post-fight therapy she’s been receiving due to the severe weight cut.
This has been known for a few days, and Cris doctor has been in direct contact with USADA turning over all the necessary patient files to document the reasons Cris needs the medication.”
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However, rarely if ever do these sort of omissions turn out well: if it’s a legit prescription, why wasn’t USADA notified in advance? And if it’s regarding the weight cut — Cyborg last fought in September. Since it was an out-of-competition test (performed on December 5), it also rules out any number of recreational drugs, which are only tested for in-competition.
All in all, this could spell disaster for a division that many have been looking forward to for years. Stay tuned.
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