UFC
Controversy clouds random drug test for Jose Aldo at Nova Uniao ahead of UFC 189 title defense
Jun 12, 2015 - 11:45:47 AM Controversy clouds random drug test for Jose Aldo at Nova Uniao ahead of UFC 189 title defense

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

There's been a bit of controversy surrounding UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo and a random drug test that a representative of the Nevada Athletic Commission attempted to administer on Thursday.

It was first reported by Combate and Tatame in Brazil, with further reporting from Guilherme Cruz at MMAFighting.com, that Aldo was drug tested Thursday morning, but his coach and manager Andre Pederneiras claimed to be suspicious of the man doing the test. Pederneiras contacted the Brazilian MMA Commission (CABMMA), who then contacted the police, and they all met at the Nova Uniao gym to flesh out what happened.

According to the first reports, the sample collector - Ben Mosier of the Drug Free Sport lab - was revealed to be licensed by the Nevada commission, but didn't have a visa allowing him to work in Brazil. As Nevada hadn't contacted the Brazil commission to coordinate a test, Thursday's sample will not be sent to a lab for testing.

Instead, Aldo was tested again Friday morning by a collector sent by CABMMA, who also allowed Mosier to be present to at its collection to observe the proceedings. The sample will be sent to the lab Thursday's was intended for, the Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City.

"We did everything they asked," Pederneiras said to Combate on Thursday. "Before this whole mess started, Aldo had already done the test, [his urine] was in the cup. But when the Brazilian commission arrived, they saw that the sample wasn't collected as it should."

"That's normal," Aldo added of being drug tested. "We reached a point in this sport that not only me, but every fighter has to go through this. This is my first time in Brazil. I think the Brazilian commission should be the one handling this, for the fact that I live here. But that's not an issue. It's nothing for me. Fight, pee, it's the same thing to me."

Penick's Analysis: It doesn't seem Aldo himself has done anything wrong here, but Pederneiras causing a stir about the test collection is a little questionable. It seems Nevada was trying to do their random testing ahead of Aldo's fight next month in Las Vegas, which is something they've been looking to do. Whether they collaborated with Brazil's commission or not, they were out to do a random surprise test, and instead of that sample getting sent in, a sample from 24 hours later with notice is the one getting sent in. There's a difference between those two things. Again, Aldo submitted to the first test, they just aren't using that sample. Regardless, the situation raises some flags and some questions, and I'll be curious to see what if any response comes from Nevada.