The UFC would like everyone to know that they’re not giving Derrick Lewis illegal peptides.
“The Black Beast” raised a number of eyebrows over the weekend when he announced on a new video podcast that he was taking peptides given to him by the UFC.
“The UFC provided me with some great peptides, and I’ve been taking it every day, and I’ve been feeling a difference,” Lewis declared.
“It was really mind blowing how quickly the peptides took effect,” his coach said. “You know, it’s going to be a game changer
for him.”
This was some pretty interesting news given that peptides are generally considered banned substances under the UFC’s anti-doping program, which is administered by Drug Free Sports International. With Lewis about to compete against Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC 324 this weekend, it seemed important that we receive some sort of clarification as to what was going on.
Now we have that (to a degree) from UFC’s senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky, also known as the promotion’s doping czar.
“UFC did NOT provide Derrick Lewis with peptides,” Novitzky wrote in a tweet. “Peptides are prohibited at all times under UFC and athletic commissions’ rules. Derrick is referring to injectable compounds that are 3rd party tested and certified as ALLOWED AT ALL TIMES by TruShild Certified.”
We’d love to know exactly what these legal compounds are, but we imagine the UFC can’t just reveal specific drugs being given to their fighters by doctors, whether those doctors are on their payroll or not. We still have some questions though, like why Lewis and his coach were so specific on calling the treatments ‘peptides.’
If Lewis was taking peptides, it would be hard for DFSI to tell. Because these substances are amino acid chains that quickly break down, their half-life (the time they remain detectable in the body via drug tests) is often measured in hours, not even days. So let’s hope Derrick Lewis misspoke and Jeff Novitzky is correct, because Cortes-Acosta and future Lewis opponents would likely never know if Derrick was actually using illegal peptides.
