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USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Julianna Peña: Kayla Harrison PED use possible with UFC drug testing 'more lax than ever'
Julianna Peña: Kayla Harrison PED use possible with UFC drug testing 'more lax than ever' No matter what Kayla Harrison or her team says to the contrary, nothing will convince Julianna Peña that her UFC 316 title challenger is bending the system. Since the stars aligned for Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) to challenge for gold on the June 7 card at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (ESPN+ pay-per-view), reigning champion Peña (11-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has not been shy with accusations of performance-enhancing drug use. Peña is convinced that two-time Olympic gold medalist Harrison has been cheating since well before she found success in MMA competition, and even though there are no positive results for banned substances throughout more than a decade of documented testing, that doesn't change the champion's mind. "They act like there's never been an Olympian who has busted for steroids," Peña told MMA Junkie on Friday. "Then you look at that Icarus documentary and you see the lengths these Russians and other teams would go to pass these drug tests because they know they would piss hot if they took a real drug test. People that do these kinds of things are so smart that they know it down to a science, how to get off, when to cycle off, when to go on and when not to. " After Peña's latest comments, Harrison's head coach, Mike Brown of American Top Team, told MMA Fighting that all accusations are entirely unfounded and that his student is a one-of-a-kind athlete. Peña admits she would probably back off the topic if she were alone in perspective. However, she said she looks around at the opinions of fight fans and others in the MMA community and has a hard time being convinced that she's wrong. "In the history of my entire career since 2013 in the UFC, never has PED use or steroids ever been a hot topic or something that's ever been discussed about any opponent that I've ever had," Peña said. "This is the first and only time. So it's not just me. Make her answer, because I think that everybody is seeing the same thing that I'm seeing and I'm the one saying it out loud, but you guys are bringing the questions to me. You should be bringing the questions to her. And I don't care how much she says she's been tested and how clean she is, that's what Lance Armstrong said too, and you would've believed him every freaking time he said it. He wasn't. It's one of those things where people are smart. They know how to cheat the system and it's a question she needs to answer, not me." Peña, 35, is clear that unless Harrison, 34, is taken out of UFC 316 by outside forces, they will be fighting for the belt regardless of her opinion. That said, she admits she could enter the first defense of her second 135-pound title reign with more confidence in competing on an even playing field. That comes down to the oversight of the contest, which Peña doesn't think is at the standard it should be. From June 2016 to the end of 2024, the UFC's drug-testing program was regulated by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which has also had Olympic oversight for decades. At the start of 2025, however, the UFC switched its testing program to Drug Free Sport International, which Peña thinks is a lesser system. "I feel like it's not that great," Peña said. "I felt more comfortable actually with this Icarus bottles, peeing into those Icarus bottles than I do now. Honestly. It's just this little plastic cup that you just barely flip the tab on, and it would be so easy (to cheat). I can only focus on myself, and I can only speak in 'I' statements, and I only know what I'm doing. But I don't like the way that the testing system is now. I think that it is a lot more lax than ever before." Regardless of whether Harrison is at an advantage or not, Peña said she is going to successfully defend her title. She thinks Harrison doesn't present much danger, and as long as she gets past the early pressure, it will be smooth sailing. "She's going to try to lay on top of me for 25 minutes," Peña said. "She might try to throw me one time, but after that is where she is going to have a lot of contention with me. She's not going to be able to hold me down for 25 minutes. The longer this fight goes, the better it is for me."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Julianna Peña: Kayla Harrison PED use possible with UFC drug testing 'more lax than ever'
No matter what Kayla Harrison or her team says to the contrary, nothing will convince Julianna Peña that her UFC 316 title challenger is bending the system. Since the stars aligned for Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) to challenge for gold on the June 7 card at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (ESPN+ pay-per-view), reigning champion Peña (11-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has not been shy with accusations of performance-enhancing drug use. Advertisement Peña is convinced that two-time Olympic gold medalist Harrison has been cheating since well before she found success in MMA competition, and even though there are no positive results for banned substances throughout more than a decade of documented testing, that doesn't change the champion's mind. "They act like there's never been an Olympian who has busted for steroids," Peña told MMA Junkie on Friday. "Then you look at that Icarus documentary and you see the lengths these Russians and other teams would go to pass these drug tests because they know they would piss hot if they took a real drug test. People that do these kinds of things are so smart that they know it down to a science, how to get off, when to cycle off, when to go on and when not to. " After Peña's latest comments, Harrison's head coach, Mike Brown of American Top Team, told MMA Fighting that all accusations are entirely unfounded and that his student is a one-of-a-kind athlete. Peña admits she would probably back off the topic if she were alone in perspective. However, she said she looks around at the opinions of fight fans and others in the MMA community and has a hard time being convinced that she's wrong. Advertisement "In the history of my entire career since 2013 in the UFC, never has PED use or steroids ever been a hot topic or something that's ever been discussed about any opponent that I've ever had," Peña said. "This is the first and only time. So it's not just me. Make her answer, because I think that everybody is seeing the same thing that I'm seeing and I'm the one saying it out loud, but you guys are bringing the questions to me. You should be bringing the questions to her. And I don't care how much she says she's been tested and how clean she is, that's what Lance Armstrong said too, and you would've believed him every freaking time he said it. He wasn't. It's one of those things where people are smart. They know how to cheat the system and it's a question she needs to answer, not me." Peña, 35, is clear that unless Harrison, 34, is taken out of UFC 316 by outside forces, they will be fighting for the belt regardless of her opinion. That said, she admits she could enter the first defense of her second 135-pound title reign with more confidence in competing on an even playing field. That comes down to the oversight of the contest, which Peña doesn't think is at the standard it should be. From June 2016 to the end of 2024, the UFC's drug-testing program was regulated by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which has also had Olympic oversight for decades. At the start of 2025, however, the UFC switched its testing program to Drug Free Sport International, which Peña thinks is a lesser system. Advertisement "I feel like it's not that great," Peña said. "I felt more comfortable actually with this Icarus bottles, peeing into those Icarus bottles than I do now. Honestly. It's just this little plastic cup that you just barely flip the tab on, and it would be so easy (to cheat). I can only focus on myself, and I can only speak in 'I' statements, and I only know what I'm doing. But I don't like the way that the testing system is now. I think that it is a lot more lax than ever before." Regardless of whether Harrison is at an advantage or not, Peña said she is going to successfully defend her title. She thinks Harrison doesn't present much danger, and as long as she gets past the early pressure, it will be smooth sailing. "She's going to try to lay on top of me for 25 minutes," Peña said. "She might try to throw me one time, but after that is where she is going to have a lot of contention with me. She's not going to be able to hold me down for 25 minutes. The longer this fight goes, the better it is for me." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Julianna Peña: UFC drug testing 'not great' before Kayla Harrison bout
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Chael Sonnen isn't sure Merab Dvalishvili really beat Sean O'Malley in first fight
Chael Sonnen isn't sure Merab Dvalishvili really beat Sean O'Malley in first fight Chael Sonnen has a controversial take on the first fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley. O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost his bantamweight title to Dvalishvili at UFC 306 this past September. O'Malley was taken down six times and controlled for more than 10 minutes in a unanimous decision loss. Sonnen thinks the judges may have gotten it wrong. "O'Malley vs. Merab, I'm not sure that Merab won that night," Sonnen told MMA Junkie. "I mean, that wasn't really met with a lot of controversy. That was pretty widely accepted, and we all got up and went home. That surprised me. If you go back and you watch that fourth and fifth round, you might come to a different opinion than you did the first time. I mean, that fight might have been 3-2 O'Malley." O'Malley argued that he should have gotten his hand raised, an opinion which was met with plenty of criticism. "He wasn't crazy," Sonnen said of O'Malley. "If you went back and watched it, the announcers were very influencing from the very beginning on that – and they are in most fights, that's the way it goes. From my perspective, because I didn't have the announcer, I was there live, so I didn't get to hear any of that. I just watched the fight. And when it was done, I'm like, 'Oh, close fight, but O'Malley won,' and it just wasn't the case." O'Malley will get an opportunity to avenge that loss when he rematches Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) on June 7 in the UFC 316 main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Henry Cejudo on what makes 'greatest bantamweight of all time' Merab Dvalishvili so good
Henry Cejudo on what makes 'greatest bantamweight of all time' Merab Dvalishvili so good Henry Cejudo had high praise for former UFC foe Merab Dvalishvili. Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) lost to Dvalishvili by unanimous decision at UFC 298. Dvalishvili went on to dethrone Sean O'Malley to become bantamweight champion at UFC 306, and notched his first title defense by handing Umar Nurmagomedov his first loss at UFC 311. Olympic gold medalist wrestler and former UFC dual-champion Cejudo was put in unfamiliar territory by Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) when he was taken down five times in their fight. "I knew Merab was really, really good with his chain fighting," Cejudo said on the JAXXON PODCAST. "So, it's not even wrestling, it's how you chain it. That's what separates them. Chaining is really putting the punches together and boom, the level change comes. Rather than just you maybe throwing a right hand and all of a sudden the level change comes. "He's able to mix it very good with his fakes and feints into takedowns. He's a f*cking machine. It's his cardio, it's his conditioning. It's the same reason why he can't knock people out because he just knows that certain threshold where he could just keep it there and take it there. He can't necessarily finish you, but he'll f*cking drown you." Dvalishvili will run things back with O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the UFC 316 main event on June 7 from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Cejudo sticks by his statement that Dvalishvili is the greatest bantamweight of all time. "I got to give credit to Merab and this is why I would say he's the greatest bantamweight of all time," Cejudo said. "Maybe he doesn't have the title defenses, but look at who he's beat. Yeah (he's better than Dillashaw). Look at the list of who he's beat and how he's beat them. There's a big difference."
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Merab Dvalishvili assures toe injury won't impact UFC 316 title fight vs. Sean O'Malley
Merab Dvalishvili assures toe injury won't impact UFC 316 title fight vs. Sean O'Malley Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili says his toe injury is of no concern heading into UFC 316. Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) runs things back with Sean O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the June 7 main event from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Just weeks before his title fight, Dvalishvili shared a video showing off a severely bruised pinky toe, raising speculation that it could be broken. "Toe is good," Dvalishvili affirmed on the "Believe You Me" podcast. "Like I said, if something, I can cut it off, but I don't need to cut it off (laughs). It's good. It doesn't bother me." "The Machine" was asked about Conor McGregor withdrawing from his return fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 last June due to a broken pinky toe, but the champion tried to refrain from taking any shots at him. "I don't want to comment about Conor McGregor's toe because I don't know the exact pain or situation, but I still have nine other toes, and it's fine," Dvalishvili said. Dvalishvili admitted that it could be hard to get up for a second fight with O'Malley after dominating him in their first encounter last September. He does, however, plan to fine tune a few things for their rematch. "Not a big change, but maybe more striking," Dvalishvili said. "It was my first title fight, and I was more focused on winning the fight, and I was the underdog and I didn't care what people were going to say. Now, I'm going to be more focused to show a good fight, and I'm going to show more striking."
