When my Three Amigo’s Podcast co-host, Stephie Haynes and I got the chance to sit down and talk to Chael Sonnen recently, I had to talk to him about his drug testing situation. One of the most interesting aspects of his switch to Bellator for me, personally, is how it affects his relationship with USADA.
The relationship between fighters and USADA doesn’t end as soon as the fighter’s UFC contract ends. There are still certain obligations, especially relating to the whereabouts policy and tests conducted during the contractual relationship, that a fighter has to meet. It’s not always entirely clear when those obligations end, even for the fighter’s themselves, as Chael explains.
I don’t think I have any responsibilities with USADA, but I can’t tell you ‘No,’ and here’s why: My understanding is that the USADA deal is just a policy with the UFC, so if you’re not under contract with the UFC, you’re not within the reach of USADA.
With that said, when I jumped into the testing pool, that was a legally binding agreement with a separate entity from the UFC, an entity known as USADA. Even though I ended with the UFC, I am still legally under the contract I signed with USADA, and I still register every day. I have to do a whereabouts.
The whereabouts program is where you have to let USADA know where you are 24/7 so they can test you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no matter what. If you go to a hotel somewhere, you have to log into the system to let them know what room you’re in. You have to let them know where you are. If they show up to where you say you are, and you’re not there, that’s called a miss, and if you get 3 of those it’s an automatic fail. There are guys who have missed spots on Olympic teams just for not updating their whereabouts.
I do that every single day, I never miss, and USADA responds to me every single day. I have wondered, is that a glitch in the system and they just haven’t taken me out, or do I have to continue to do this and they could show up at any point? I don’t know the answer to that.
My understanding is if you’re not with the UFC, you’re not with USADA. However, they are separate entities, and I did sign a legally binding form to be in the testing pool, so I continue to update it, and they continue to respond, so I don’t know the answer to that question. I do not think I am under USADA, however, I do continue to fill it out, because I don’t want to find out I am, and then get a miss.
Per the UFC anti-doping policy, a fighter is only subject to the policy while they have an active contract with the UFC, except under one specific circumstance. From the policy:
- UFC Anti-doping Policy.
This would seem to suggest that Sonnen will be clear of his USADA obligations whenever his last drug test results come back. It seems likely that Sonnen’s hunch that he’s still being accepted as part of the whereabouts system is a glitch in the system is correct. Going by the plain reading of the policy, he shouldn’t be obliged to undergo any further testing.
Chael is probably right to err on the side of caution, though, as the athlete’s handbook covering the policy specifically states that the Athlete will be notified if they are no longer subject to the whereabouts program.
- UFC Anti-doping Athlete Handbook.
The whereabouts policy itself explicitly states that athletes who are in the registered testing pool remain in the pool until they receive written notification form USADA that they are no longer part of said pool. This would suggest that Chael could still be considered contractually obligated to participate in the whereabouts policy, at least until USADA get around to removing him from the registered testing pool.
- UFC Whereabouts Policy
Sonnen made several jokes about potentially failing USADA tests after coming out of retirement, including saying he wouldn’t be fighting “if the test is as good as I remember it being.” We haven’t heard anything to suggest he actually failed any of the USADA administered tests, and according to the man himself, neither has he.
Here’s my understanding with USADA, and I’ve only had a couple of run ins with them. My time was limited because I failed right out of the gate and went on suspension. When I came back into the pool I was tested I believe four times.
My experience with USADA was this - no news is good news. I don’t think you get a report card for a pass. I believe you only get it for a fail. I never heard back from USADA. I think it can take anywhere from nine to thirty days, and I tested back in June, so I didn’t have any USADA issues, but at the same time I can’t tell you that I have a sheet from them saying “congratulations, you’ve passed.”
The UFC’s USADA policy falls into an odd regulatory grey area. USADA are a body recognized by congress as an official anti-doping agency for a variety of sports in the US, but most state athletic commissions don’t have policies in place to treat third party test results the same way they would treat the results of an athletic commission.
While failing a test at any athletic commission will see you receive a suspension that all other athletic commissions are likely to uphold, there isn’t much precedent that the same would apply to a test under the UFC’s USADA program. With that in mind, we asked Chael whether or not he had discussed what would happen if he failed a USADA test while under contract with Bellator.
I didn’t discuss what would happen if I failed a USADA test with Bellator, but I can tell you without even having a conversation that if I failed a drug test, I would be out. I would be out everywhere. I would be done at ESPN, everywhere. There’s no slack left in the old Chael leash on that one.
I don’t know what kind of power USADA have, but I believe if I failed, that would extend [to Bellator]. I’m trying to fight in the state of California, and I think that (California State Athletic Commissioner) Andy Foster would look at that and just say, “You’re out.” I don’t know what the rule would be on that, and there was no discussion, but I think in fairness, or just being objective people, yeah, that would have to be game over for me.
Given the amount of time that has passed it seems exceedingly unlikely that any of Sonnen’s USADA tests have come back positive, but the question of how exactly each athletic commission would react if they did remains open. Different states give different punishments for doping violations, making the situation even more complicated.
With the increased focus on drug testing it’s only a matter of time until we find out what happens when an athlete who has recently left the UFC fails a USADA test, but it seems that athlete won’t be Chael Sonnen.
You can check out the entire interview here at the 56:25 mark, or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you're looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we're under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Geroge Lockhart, Iain Kiddand Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Pod.