Mixed martial arts fighter Nathan Marquardt tested positive for the anabolic steroids after his fight with Ivan Salaverry, which he won, on August 6. Salaverry was the only other fighter tested after the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s live Ultimate Fight Night special on August 6 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and was negative.
While the results are preliminary and subject to appeal, Marquardt is the fourth mixed martial arts fighter in UFC to have tested positive for steroids in the state of Nevada in the last three years. He joins Josh Barnett, Kimo Leopaldo and Tim Sylvia.
While use of steroids, which is a felony in the United States as well as professionally punishable in most states that regulate MMA, is prevalent in the sport, this revelation comes at a time when the US Congress is considering regulation of professional sports in the aftermath of baseball star Rafael Palmiero and others testing positive for steroids. Major League Baseball has suspended 84 athletes this season for violations of its drug policy.
Additionally, Marquardt’s drug revelations come at a time the sport is trying to expand within the country and has received good news both in terms of promotion by SpikeTV and multi-million dollar endorsement contracts.
Dana White, the UFC President, said that the company supports Marquardt. “He swears to God that he didn’t take steroids,” White said in an interview with the website Sherdog on Monday. “I believe him. I support him 100 percent. He said all he takes are supplements he buys in the health food store.”
Will Hendricks, Marquardt’s manager, released a statement Tuesday saying that Marquardt denies the alleged doping. While not the first time a complaint has been lodged against the testing procedure that detects this drug, he said that there was a problem with the test.
“This unexpected news left us unbelieving, and in a state of shock. At this point, we can only assume this is a false-positive result, possibly due to some flaw in the testing process. For those reasons, Nathan has voluntarily submitted to two additional tests, one conducted in Colorado this past weekend, and a second in Nevada on Monday. We are confident the new tests will exonerate Nathan of these allegations.
“Nathan would like his friends and fans to know that he has NEVER knowingly taken any banned substance. His personal code of ethics, and strong Christian faith would never allow him to do so. We are confident that an impartial review of the facts will reveal this truth.”
After Marquardt receives an official complaint from the NSAC, he will have 20 days to respond. He can appeal the decision. He has taken additional tests, including an additional official urine sample in Nevada. The results of that test will be made available later this week.
Should the decision stand, Marquardt can be fined and suspended, though sentences tend to be no longer than six months and fines aren’t astronomical.
The steroid for which Marquardt tested positive, nandrolone, is sold as Deca-Durabolin. It occurs naturally in the human body, but in miniscule quantities, and promotes the increase of muscle mass, much like testosterone, but supposedly with fewer side effects. According to an initial report by the website MMAWeekly, he had significant quantities in his system. Boxer James Toney tested positive for the drug earlier this year. The test isolates 19-norandrosterone, a molecule which results from the processing of nandrolone, and in high quantities, athletes are flagged for doping.
“(T)he fact that so many sportsmen have tested positive for the same substance in such a short space of time has led to speculation that the testing procedure may be flawed, or inaccurate,” wrote Paul May, a chemistry professor at the University of Bristol, an institution in Great Britain.
Marquardt earned $20,000 for his victory against Salaverry in a lackluster main event on the live special. The match was replaced by Kenny Florian vs. Alex Karalexis in all replays. According to the rules of the NSAC, regardless of Marquardt’s test results, the decision of the fight is not under question at this time nor is it likely that it would be changed even if it was found without question that Marquardt had been doping. The NSAC tests only a small amount of UFC fighters for doping, including all of whom are competing in championship matches.
Marc Ratner, who works for the NSAC, said that they are likely to change rules that allow a fighter to maintain a victory after testing positive for steroids. “We are looking at legislative measures to change that,” he said on MMA Weekly Radio. “(H)owever it does take time, but you most likely will see change regarding that issue.”
