UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum has been pulled from a scheduled fight on June 3 against Anderson Silva after he tested positive for marijuana on March 11.
Under WADA standards, the legal decision limit for Carboxy-THC in-competition is 180 ng/mL. Gastelum was flagged for Carboxy-Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as Carboxy-THC, “which is a metabolite of marijuana and/or hashish.†Marijuana metabolites under the UFC’s anti-doping policy are classified as a specified substance, which carries a potential one-year suspension.
The 25-year-old Gastelum (14-2) is riding a three-fight win streak. He now has been placed under provisional suspension. Gastelum, who won “The Ultimate Fighter†in 2013 over Uriah Hall by split decision, has since missed weight on three different occasions, the most recent coming at UFC 205. He was ordered by UFC president Dana White to move up to middleweight after not making weight on two occasions while fighting in the welterweight division in the UFC. He has since won back-to-back fights in dominant fashion at 185 pounds where he stopped both Tim Kennedy and Belfort inside the distance.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency informed the UFC of violation of the drug policy by Gastelum. The failed drug test happened after the knockout win of Gastelum over Vitor Belfort in Fortaleza, Brazil. Gastelum defeated Belfort via first-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 106 to propel himself into the top-10 of the UFC middleweight rankings. The win also earned Gastelum his second Performance of the Night bonus award.
The American professional mixed martial artist who is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 17. Currently competing as a middleweight and is ranked #8 in the UFC official middleweight rankings, Kelvin Gastelum made his professional MMA debut on December 11, 2010 and won via submission because of punches in the second round. Gastelum then went on to amass undefeated record of 5–0 and had finished every opponent he had faced with 2 TKOs and 3 submissions on his record. Gastelum was selected for The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen in January 2013. He defeated Kito Andrews by decision to get into the TUF house and was picked last by Chael Sonnen for Team Sonnen.
In a statement, the UFC said a replacement is currently being sought to face Silva at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro. Yoel Romero has expressed interest in taking on Anderson Silva but Romero wants the fight to be for the interim belt. The statement further reads that USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Gastelum, as it relates to the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and future UFC participation.
The UFC statement also reads that USADA will work to ensure that the Commission has the necessary information to determine its proper judgment of Gastelum’s potential anti-doping violation because the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) was the regulatory body overseeing the fight in Fortaleza and has licensing jurisdiction over Gastelum. It was also added that additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
The American sprinter Ivory Williams has been banned for a period of three months and is expected to miss the World Indoor Championships after testing positive for marijuana after his win in the trial race in Albuquerque.
The sprinter was one of the favorites to land the 60m title in Doha after running a world best 6.49 seconds at the New Mexico meet.
Trell Kimmons has been called up as replacement to the US team.
Frank Ratcliff, a baseball player for University of Miami, was handed over suspension after he was arrested for trying to sell marijuana to undercover Coral Gables detectives.
In wake of this news, the University of Miami handed over an indefinite suspension to Ratcliff.
A statement by the university revealed that the athletic department has suspended Frank Ratcliff indefinitely from all athletic activities.
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, recently remarked that he is in the favor of expanding the regular season to 17 or 18 games over the next few years. If this proposal gets the go-ahead, every team will be getting an extra home game and they will also be facing an opponent at a neutral site.
With accusations of over-fatigued players and steroid use in baseball plaguing the game, this comes as no respite and it will not be long before more players jump into the steroid brigade to sustain their positions and keep off the competition at bay.
Kevin Van Valkenburg of the Baltimore Sun reacted to the proposal by remarking that players should then be given the complete freedom to make use of steroids, HGH, or even marijuana to combat pressure.
Kevin Clauson, Pharm.D., an associate professor at NSU’s College of Pharmacy, who was the principle investigator in the study, said these drugs help poker players to stay awake longer and concentrate better to stay close to a competitive advantage.
The NSU researchers initially interviewed players in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker and then surveyed online players from across the globe.
Since the advent of steroidsin baseball and the rampant steroids use even among high school and student athletes, steroid testing is now mandatory in nearly every level of competition.
University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) athletes are also subject to testing by the university and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
According to Roy Rudewick, UTA’s athletic trainer, their policy involves up to three offenses only. Steroids may be a problem in baseball but recreational drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and the likes are more rampant.
A 2008 study conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuseshowed that about 1.5 percent of high school seniors have used steroids but more than 30 percent of the respondents have used marijuana.
Out of the 16,000 respondents, 192 admitted to steroids use and 4,800 admitted to marijuana use.
Rudewick said athletes are selected once a month for random steroid testing. That means an individual will get to be tested six times in one school year. Although their drug testing focuses more on recreational drugs, performance-enhancing drugs are also included.
NCAA on the other hand, tests for more drugs and substances that are not included in UTA’s drug testing.
According to results of a national survey published in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, the use of steroids among teenage girls is not just limited to those being a part of professional athletics and is also concerned with a variety of other health-endangering behaviors.
These findings have pinpointed critical associations among girls making use of steroidsas per the authors. It is believed that high-risk girls tend to receive less of attention than adolescent boys, perhaps reflecting that their actions are less socially.
According to a surprising finding that was made by a University of Michigan Health System team, there is a noteworthy relationship between sleep problems in a child’s toddler years and the probability of him using alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs (marijuana, inhalants, cocaine, steroids, and other illicit drugs) early in their teen years. This was remarked by the involved team as part of a family health study that followed 257 boys and their parents for 10 years.
It was remarked that teens whose preschool sleep patternswere poor were more likely to use drugs, tobacco, or alcohol than their counterparts who enjoyed good sleeping behavior.
According to Wong, parents must give due care and attention to complaints raised by their children about overtiredness and insomnia. The need for a regular sleep schedule and discussions with a health care provider must be on the priority list of parents.
According to results of a national survey published in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, the use of steroids among teen girlsis just not limited to those actively involved in competitive athletics. It was also revealed that the usage of steroids is often associated with cluster of other health-harming behaviors, including diet pills and smoking.
Diane L. Elliot, M.D., of the Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, and colleagues made assessments for use of anabolic steroid among teen girls and raised questions about use of ecstasy, steroids, and other behaviors.
From News-Medical.Net:
“Adolescent girls reporting anabolic steroid use had significantly more other health-harming behaviors,” they continue. “They were much more likely to use other unhealthy substances, including past 30-day use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine.” Young female steroid users were also more likely to:
have had sexual intercourse before age 13
have been pregnant
drink and drive or have ridden with a drinking driver
carry a weapon
have been in a fight on school property in the past year
have feelings of sadness or hopelessness almost every
day for at least two weeks
have attempted suicide
More than two-thirds of the teen girlssurveyed reported trying to change their weight. However, those who used steroidswere more likely to turn to extreme weight-loss techniques, including vomiting and laxative use. “Anabolic steroids are body-shaping agents and cause a loss in body fat and an increase in lean tissue; therefore, their association with unhealthy weight loss practices was not surprising,” the authors write.
It was also found that high-risk adolescent girls received less attention than adolescent boys, which somehow suggest that their actions were found to be less socially and more personally destructive.