PEDs

What are PEDs?

PEDs, short for performance-enhancing drugs, are compounds taken to improve athletic output rather than to treat a diagnosed medical condition. The category covers a wide range of substances, from anabolic steroids that build muscle to stimulants that sharpen focus and delay fatigue.

Fighting sports take the issue especially seriously because performance and safety are linked. A fighter who recovers faster between camps can train harder, and a fighter who carries more raw strength hits harder. Both change the outcome of a fight and the risk to the person standing across the cage.

That link between chemistry and physical danger is why MMA organizations run formal testing programs rather than leaving the issue to trust. Anti-doping bodies test blood and urine samples against WADA’s Prohibited List, a catalog that groups substances into categories such as anabolic agents, hormones, and stimulants. The list updates every year.

Not every performance booster counts as a PED. Coffee and creatine can improve performance, and so can a well-structured training block, but none of them appear on WADA’s list. That list is the real dividing line between “PED” and ordinary sports nutrition.

How MMA tests for PEDs

Every major promotion in MMA now runs some form of drug testing, but the organization behind that testing has changed more than casual fans realize. The UFC used USADA (the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) from 2015 through the end of 2023. Since January 1, 2024, the UFC’s program has been run by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), with sample collection handled by Drug Free Sport International and lab analysis done at the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, according to CSAD’s own program materials. PFL, meanwhile, brought USADA on as its testing partner in 2023 after a wave of positive tests disrupted its regular season.

Both programs test in and out of competition, meaning a fighter can be pulled aside for a sample at any point in a training camp, sometimes months before a bout is even booked. The substances checked against are drawn from WADA’s Prohibited List, which for 2026 continues to ban anabolic agents, peptide hormones, growth factors, stimulants, diuretics, and masking agents, and blood-doping methods such as EPO use, per USADA’s published 2026 list summary.

A fighter who needs a banned medication for a genuine medical condition can apply for a therapeutic use exemption (TUE), a formal approval process rather than a blanket pass. Testosterone is the clearest example of how narrow that path has become: the Nevada State Athletic Commission stopped granting TUEs for testosterone replacement therapy in 2014, and the UFC adopted the same stance shortly after, effectively closing what had been a well-known loophole.

PEDs vs. legal supplements

Confusion between banned PEDs and legal sports supplements is common, and creatine is the substance fighters and fans ask about most. WADA has never placed creatine on its Prohibited List, and USADA states plainly that it is not a prohibited substance. The two categories work in fundamentally different ways.

	Legal supplements (creatine, protein, caffeine)	Banned PEDs (anabolic steroids, SARMs, EPO)
Regulatory status	Not on WADA’s Prohibited List	Listed under WADA’s Prohibited List
How they work	Support the body’s existing energy or recovery systems	Alter hormone levels or blood chemistry directly
Availability	Sold over the counter	Require a prescription, exemption, or illegal sourcing
Testing risk	No violation from the substance itself	Positive test triggers a doping violation

Common categories of PEDs

The substances that show up most often in MMA testing fall into a handful of recognized categories.

Category	What it does	Examples
Anabolic-androgenic steroids	Increases muscle mass and strength by mimicking testosterone	Testosterone, oxandrolone, metandienone
SARMs	Targets muscle and bone tissue with fewer of the broader hormonal effects of steroids	Ostarine, RAD-140
Peptide hormones and growth factors	Speeds recovery or stimulates natural growth hormone release	Human growth hormone, BPC-157
Stimulants	Delays fatigue and sharpens focus	Amphetamines
Diuretics and masking agents	Can dilute urine samples or accelerate weight cutting	Furosemide
Blood-doping methods	Increases the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity	EPO, blood transfusion

What happens after a positive test

A positive test opens a results-management process rather than an automatic, fixed penalty. The length of a suspension depends on the substance, whether the fighter had a valid TUE, and how much the fighter cooperated with the investigation. Public rulings from CSAD show that range in practice: contaminated-supplement cases have drawn suspensions as short as six months, while cases involving deliberate use or an attempt to mislead investigators have stretched past two years.

A provisional suspension typically starts as soon as a sample comes back positive, which is why fighters sometimes withdraw from a booked fight with no public explanation weeks before the ruling is announced. State athletic commissions can layer their own suspensions on top of whatever the promotion’s anti-doping body decides, particularly for events held in their jurisdiction.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is creatine considered a PED?

No. Creatine is not on WADA’s Prohibited List and is treated as an ordinary dietary supplement by every major sports organization, including the UFC’s testing program.

What’s the difference between “doping” and taking a PED?

PED refers to the substance itself. Doping refers to the act of using a banned substance or method to gain a competitive edge, whether or not it’s caught by a test.

Can a fighter still get a TUE for testosterone in MMA?

Not in practice. Nevada stopped granting testosterone TUEs in 2014, and the UFC follows the same standard, so a positive test for exogenous testosterone is treated as a doping violation rather than an approved therapy.

Who currently tests UFC fighters for PEDs?

Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) has managed the UFC’s anti-doping program since January 2024, replacing USADA, which ran the program from 2015 through 2023.

How long is a suspension for a PED violation in the UFC?

It varies by substance and circumstances. Recent CSAD rulings have ranged from six months for contaminated-supplement cases to well over two years when a fighter is found to have used a substance intentionally and misled investigators about it.

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Sources

1. World Anti-Doping Agency / USADA. “2026 WADA Prohibited List.” Accessed September 2026.
   https://www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/2026-wada-prohibited-list/
2. UFC. “UFC Announces Details Of New Anti-Doping Program.” Accessed September 2026.
   https://www.ufc.com/news/ufc-announces-details-new-anti-doping-program
3. U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “Substances: Prohibited List.” Accessed September 2026.
   https://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/
4. ESPN. “PFL hires USADA to run anti-doping program.” Accessed September 2026.
   https://africa.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/37996093/pfl-hires-usada-run-anti-doping-program
5. ESPN. “NSAC bans testosterone replacement therapy in combat sports.” Accessed September 2026.
   https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/10528126/nsac-bans-testosterone-replacement-therapy-combat-sports
6. Sherdog. “UFC Heavyweight Suspended Until 2028 After Failed Drug Test.” Accessed September 2026.
   https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-Heavyweight-Suspended-Until-2028-After-Failed-Drug-Test-199766
7. Yahoo Sports. “UFC contender learns suspension length after failed drug test.” Accessed September 2026.
   https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ufc-contender-learns-suspension-length-171904694.html
8. ScienceInsights. “Is Creatine Considered a PED or Just a Supplement?” Accessed September 2026.
   https://scienceinsights.org/is-creatine-considered-a-ped-or-just-a-supplement/

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