Comments on: Ryan Jensen vs. Steve Steinbeiss Canceled For UFN 18

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:50:39 +0000

He has been taking it since he was a teenager for ADHD. This was not an issue for his previous fights because it was not banned by those states’ athletic commissions like Tennessee. The TN athletic commission, which had never before commissioned a fight, dropped the ball because the disclosure was made long before the weigh in and this problem could have been avoided if they would have red flagged it sooned.

By: bjsmit1

bjsmit1 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:47:43 +0000

I’ve been friends with Jensen for about 15 years. I was with him the whole month of March in Albuquerque, helping with his training camp at Greg Jackson’s. Ryan has had ADD for as long as I can remember — to be honest, I’m not too keen on the use of pharmaceuticals for the treatment of ADD/ADHD. I think better/different parenting, teaching, etc, could be very beneficial for kids with ADD, but I’ve witnessed firsthand how much medication does help, in the case of Jensen.

With that being said, Jensen has disclosed the use of his prescription medication since day one. The Athletic Commissions in California, Ohio, Nebraska, etc. did not have a problem with it, and obviously allowed him to fight. Jensen had his pre-fight physical done in late February, where he disclosed his Adderall prescription. On Wednesday, March 25th, he faxed paperwork for his sponsors, etc, and again disclosed his prescription as well. Nothing was said until he was about to weigh in, on Tuesday, March 31st.

The last time Jensen took the medication was the morning of Monday, March 30th — and it was only 5 mg, which is a very small dose relative to what others with ADD/ADHD take. It is not uncommon for individuals to take up to 150 mg per day.

When he was about to go on the stage for the weigh-ins, the Tennessee AC stopped him. They said that Adderall was a banned substance, and that he could not fight. Former Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and current Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the UFC, Marc Ratner, argued with Tennessee officials on Jensen’s behalf. The Tennessee AC said that the prescription medication Ritalin (methylphenidate) was allowed, but not Adderall. Both drugs are FDA approved for the treatment of ADD/ADHD, and act as Central Nervous System stimulants. Their method of action is virtually identical.

The half life of Adderall is 11-13 hours, and given the dose Jensen was taking, he would have in all likelihood passed the post-fight drug test. In fact, Jensen volunteered to take a drug test on Tuesday, March 31st, to prove that the medication was out of his system. The Tennessee AC would not administer a drug test, and told him that he could not fight on Wednesday, April 1st.

Like I stated, numerous state athletic commissions have allowed him to compete, and he has had a legitimate prescription for years. He provided the Tennessee AC documentation from his physician, as well as documentation from other state commissions that had cleared him to fight in the past, while using his prescribed medication.

The Tennessee AC dropped the ball on this. Jensen did everything expected of him as a fighter — he showed up in shape, and made weight. They’re the ones who should be scrutinized…

By: Vinz_Clortho

Vinz_Clortho — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:10:18 +0000

Yeah drugs like that usually involve building up a certain level of it in your system in order for them to work properly. You cannot just “jump off” and then “jump on” drugs like that.. and if it is doctor prescribed I don’t see it being a problem.

By: rhinomouth

rhinomouth — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:09:58 +0000

Ryan has been taking the drug since college (more than a decade). He’d never had a problem with commissions before, since he’s always forthcoming about taking it. It’s been made clear he’s had a prescription since before becoming a professional fighter. Tennessee’s commission seems a bit more stringent than Nevada, I guess. Adderall is not a drug you stop taking at leisure. It requires a graduated reduction to discontinue taking it (reduce your dosage by 10-20mg a day; every three days. – so roughly take your dose, divide by 10 and multiply by 3 to get how many days it would take to discontinue).

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:45:56 +0000

Adderall hasn’t been around that long.
I “just” stopped taking ritalin when I decided I didn’t need it anymore.
He’s a professional fighter, I don’t see how any sort of attention problems would adversely affect him as a fighter, besides this is not his first fight and he has not had this problem before, which suggests that he’s started taking it more recently.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:40:59 +0000

A professional fighter with ADD or ADHD would need to use Adderall if he’s used it all his life. You don’t just “Stop” taking something you’ve taken all your life and that’s usually what it entails.

By: Kris Karkoski

Kris Karkoski — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:21:45 +0000

Recent enough that he had to disclose it. This is the exact same thing that happened to Tim Credeur and in that case the UFC simply rescheduled his fight for their next event so the fighter could be off the drug long enough before fighting.

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:37:20 +0000

Adderall should get out of your system rather quickly. I don’t quite understand why it is banned, but I do realize that it is a stimulant and that is probably the root of the problem. Not to mention I don’t see any reason why a professional fighter would need Adderall.

By: fr702

fr702 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:21:16 +0000

That is unfortunate kinda wasted both of their work leading up to this bout, He did claim the drug in his paper work but com’on he should have known better.. He or his manager hell his doctor should have know that the drug wasn’t allow, atleast we didn’t have to go through another NSAC hearing over this…. It does suck tho

By: jiujitsuMAN

jiujitsuMAN — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:12:00 +0000

how long of a time is recently?

like come on first off you know your fight is comin, so maybe go off the drugs for a few days or a week…

i think part of the problem with the whole drug things is how long does the stuff stay in your system, and how much of it will actually affect you…