Mikey Musumeci posts his ONE PEDs testing results

Mikey Musumeci posts proof on Instagram, that he is amongst the top-level jiu jitsu athletes who don’t take performance enhancing drugs (PED’s).

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is known for being pretty relaxed towards PED’s, due to the fact it isn’t strictly regulated in the sport, and despite the sport growing – it is still quite small.

One Championship makes sure all of their athletes get tested for PED’s, which is certainly a step forward in terms of regulating use of them in professional grappling. Mikey Musumeci has posted on social media to prove he has been tested and is a ‘natural’ athlete. Musumeci has previously spoke out about his distaste for steroids, so it’s good to see his actions match up to his words.

“Realize you don’t need to inject a needle in your butt to be a champion.”

Musumeci captioned the post, “I want to thank @onechampionship @yodchatri for testing athletes for steroids and PEDS. Unfortunately the past and the current generation of jiu jitsu is ridiculous with the amount of steroids involved, but luckily One is capable of changing the landscape of jiu jitsu with this testing. Every match I am a part of I have requested myself and my opponent to have PED testing to help this cause :). Remember if you hear people say the Whole vs Part flaw from formal logic, “everyone is doing them, so I should as well, and therefore I am not cheating,” realize you don’t need to inject a needle in your butt to be a champion 🤮, you don’t need to take shortcuts to be a champion, get a stronger mind and better jiu jitsu and make it happen. ❤️🙏🏻”

There is a lot of controversy surrounding PED’s in jiu jitsu as to whether they are fairplay at the top weight levels of the sport, or whether they are flat-out unfair. And although PED’s are renowned for making people gain lots of muscle very quickly, they can also be used to help aid recovery which is a much needed aspect of being a professional jiu jitsu athlete; so you can train as often as possible.

PED’s in BJJ

However it would be ignorant to think steroids don’t help people to have physical advantage in BJJ. Steroids add strength as well as muscle; when Nicky Rod fought Gordon Ryan at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 3 and it went into overtime and he nearly secured the choke (but the timer went off and he didn’t get it finished fast enough) Craig Jones asked Rod, “If you were on steroids, would you’ve finished the choke?” and Rod replied, “I mean, for sure. You’re changing the biology of your body, you’re adjusting the DNA. For sure, if I adjusted my DNA, it’s a finish.”

Recently, BJJ prodigy, 19-year-old Mica Galvao was stripped of his 2022 IBJJF world championship title for failing a drug test, as well as two black belt gold medalists missing off the podiums at the 2022 IBJJF No-Gi World Championships once they found out the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) were making the rounds. However, they didn’t get let off; five athletes ended up accepting three-year sanctions for violating anti-doping rules as a result of testing. Those who got three year sanctions were: Vagner Rocha, Henrique ‘Ceconi’ Cardoso , Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu, Jonnatas Gracie and Igor Feliz.

Commenting on the five BJJ athletes who received suspensions, USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said: “All athletes deserve a level playing field so that hard work and talent alone determine the outcome of a competition. Testing programs help ensure that those who choose to use powerful performance-enhancing substances or otherwise cheat to gain an advantage are held accountable.”