BJ Penn claims that he did not know about the ban on IV usage and that is the reason why he violated the UFC anti-doping policy per a statement issued on his web site.
“I voluntarily disclosed to USADA that during a non-fight period that I had an IV administered under the care of a doctor.
“The rule for IV usage had changed since my last fight in the UFC and was unaware of the change and voluntarily disclosed the information to USADA. I had no idea that IV use was banned 365 days a year.
“At no time in my career in martial arts have I ever doped and anticipate all test results from USADA will come back clean and will be working with the UFC to get the matter cleared up and return to fight as soon as possible.
As we know, Penn’s last fight in the UFC predated the anti-doping policy which went into effect on July 1, 2015. Penn’s last fight in the UFC was against Frankie Edgar and occurred in July 2014. He was slated to fight next week at UFC 199.
Payout Perspective:
I don’t believe plausible deniability will be a viable defense for Penn. One would surmise that Penn had to sign a contract with the UFC which included abiding by the anti-doping policy enforced by USADA. This defense is not unique and it may not be very successful if Penn decides to go through an appeal process. Perhaps he will be able to broker a deal that would mitigate a penalty.
I don’t think the fans are missing out….
Penn is a bum, go home you’re not helping anyone and nobody wants to see you fight.
Regardless of whether or not Penn should fight – I think this is a missaplication of the intent of the USADA rule. The point is to prevent dehydration at weigh ins, not to eliminate use of IVs in sports. Triathletes, marathoner and ultramarathoners, cyclists and other endurance athletes frequently get IVs – under the supervision of a doctor. Are you saying that all of those athletes should be suspended? If you want to ban them during competition I understand, but if during training you push a little bit too hard and become dehydrated, the safest thing may be an IV. In those cases I don’t think it should count as a violation.
Didn’t Mayweather get to use IVs for his fight with Pacquiao?
“If you want to ban them during competition I understand,” – for clarity I meant if you want to ban IVs during competition (e.g. if an ultramarathoner needs an IV during the race, they have to pull out).