Was GSP on PEDs [Repost from a few years ago]

This is an interesting comment I found on reddit a few years ago, discussing whether GSP was on PEDs.

I used to dismiss the idea myself, but after reading some of these discussions, I started to reconsider. GSP is probably one of my favorite fighters of all time—definitely my favorite welterweight—but that doesn’t mean he’s above criticism or suspicion.. Here's what OP said about it

"1. On his first claim that: "GSP started WADA certified anti-doping testing in early 2013" he linked an interview on MMA Mania which linked to another article on SB Nation where Keith Kizer, executive director of the NSAC said the following: "I started getting all these other questions from Team GSP. I answered them and thought it was enough. Then I got more questions from GSP. Then it got to the point where I was like, 'look ...' Taking a step back, on the phone call, I said, 'if you don't want to do additional testing that's fine. This isn't an either/or situation. If you want us to do enhanced testing, this is how you do it. It will have no basis or bearing on whether you're doing other testing, as well. "'If you want to do VADA or USADA instead of or in addition to, that's not relevant at all. The question is that [UFC lawyer Michael] Mersch wanted to let you guys know and find out for himself, how we are doing the testing for Bradley-Marquez, I'm telling you this. If you want to use VADA testing in addition to, or instead of, go ahead. But if you want to do this, this is how it's going to be done. It's not open to negotiation. It's not open to lobbying. It's not open to any attempt to craft it to the athlete's wants or desires.'" For Kizer, it seems the questions were an attempt to determine their testing, something he eventually had enough of, "and then it got to the point where it was like, 'look, obviously it's pretty clear this isn't working. We'll do our testing on our dime, how we so choose, and let's forget about enhanced testing through the commission.'" Seems like GSP wanted to get a really good understanding of how and when he would be tested. The kind of information a dedicated PED cheat would need to know to beat tests.

\*3.**The third claim he said GSP continued being "tested after retiring" and linked to an interview on Bloodyelbow which did not anywhere say that GSP continue being tested after retiring. The only questions about testing where GSP references being tested are when he says "Now we're talking again and I'm starting the USADA process to be tested, I'm starting it Aug 10. in Las Vegas. Because to be eligible to fight you need to be tested." This implies that he wasn't being tested during the time he was retired, which invalidates the claim made.*

\*4.**His fourth claim that "no medical authority has ever agreed to" the claim that "GSP's body is suspicious" had a link to a Google search for the term "GSP Body Shape PEDs" which isn't evidence of anything he claimed.*

\*5.**His fifth claim that "GSP's body has remained pretty much identical since the beginning of his career" includes a link to a single, poorly filmed, 480p video from his Canadian Fighting Championship days where GSP clearly has much smaller shoulders and a less defined set of traps and pecs than his physique in the UFC, and especially his later career. This video is not evidence of the claims being made considering GSP could've used PEDs before or during his time in this organization. There's no available information online that I can find detailing any testing protocols for the CFC, which no longer exists, but I'd assume the testing was extremely lax considering it was a small local promotion with prize pools that would make testing the fighters a tough proposition (a major barrier to entry for implementing testing at any level of fighting is the cost of such tests). This article states "According to Dr. Margaret Goodman of VADA, St-Pierre had enrolled in the program and paid $16,000, which would have been the cost for both he and Hendricks to a full battery of tests for the last 12 weeks before the fight." Also, the VADA testing program GSP was volunteering for has been shown to have flaws before as this article indicates. It states that as recently as 2019 Dillian "Whyte's drug tests came back negative in a pre-fight test July 17 and negative in a post-fight July 21. However, Whyte tested positive for the banned steroid dianabol in a pre-fight test administered by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) on July 17." This implies it's possible to pass a VADA drug test while using PEDs. Not to mention this report which was commissioned by "the WADA Foundation Board" and "supported by David Howman, WADA Director General" found that "Based on the assessment of the Working Group, its appointment was timely, since there are clearly many systemic, organizational and human reasons why the drug testing programs have been generally unsuccessful in detecting dopers/cheats." The report talked about such potential changes as "69. Application of random testing should be limited to in-competition testing," "70. CIR (IRMS) testing for artificial testosterone should be increased forthwith for samples provided by male athletes," and "76. Because of micro dosages, rules should be established to permit testing during the periods when detection is possible." These rule changes and other aspects of the report imply that there were potentially numerous ways to use PEDs, while being tested by WADA in the pre-2012 era, and not be caught by testing.*

\*6.**For his sixth claim that "GSP is the fighter with the oldest blood samples collected on UFC roster. These samples are still retested as per WADA protocol using the best and newest ISTI methodologies for finding new drugs that might have been undetectable the first time," he linked to a post that detailed the advanced testing done by the IAAF which is the "international governing body for the sport of athletics, covering track and field, cross country running, road running, racewalking, mountain running and ultrarunning." source Whether or not they have implemented re-testing, doesn't indicated whether or not GSP has had his samples re-tested considering he competes in a sport that the IAAF doesn't govern over. Additionally, USADA's own website states "Under the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code, USADA can retest stored urine and blood samples for up to 10 years, which helps to deter doping by ensuring that the few athletes who are not caught today, can and will be caught tomorrow," implying that these re-testing protocols only began in 2015, 2 years after GSP initially retired from MMA. Additionally, the UFC's USADA Athlete Test History page only has data starting from 2015. If you go to USADA's own Athlete Test History page which goes back to 2000, Georges St.Pierre's name yields no results. Implying either he wasn't re-tested, or there's no records of those tests to prove this claim.*

His bolded claims are essentially the same and repeat his earlier claim (which wasn't true) that "GSP remains one of the longest continuously tested without interruption fighter in MMA history." GSP was not continuously tested and his samples have never been re-tested by USADA, according to any information available online that I could find. He further claimed that "based solely on PROVEN FACTS and the preponderance of probabilities, GSP is the PROVEN cleanest athlete in the sport," while not providing any actual "proven facts" to support these claims. An article from 2012 on the GSP vs Condit fight had a statement from Condit's team that said "“My personal feeling is that proper year-round, random drug testing provides the cleanest opportunities and holds up the highest integrity of any sport,” Fuller said. “I would love to see this come into play with the UFC. I do know it’s a very expensive option to bring on with sports, and the UFC has a lot of events through the course of a year. It would be a lot of work for any organization to keep track of the random testing. But a group like USADA has proven they can do that. I would love to see it, but I’m not going to tell the UFC to add drug testing.”" This implies that year-round random drug testing simply wasn't being done at the time when GSP was most active and dominant in the UFC. There was in and out of competition testing being done, but the fighters were well aware that this testing only happened a certain number of months out from competitions, and could've taken PEDs to train or build muscle and then cycled off as the fight approached and testing began.

I'm Canadian but GSP is one of the most suspect potential PED users in MMA history. He was consistently in better condition with larger muscles than his competition during the juiciest era of MMA, when testing was extremely lax and the UFC consistently resisted having fighters tested year round by WADA or USADA."