A list describing the supplements and medications that light heavyweight Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal used prior to his appearance at "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine" points to a single product as the cause of his positive steroid test.
In a letter sent this past Saturday to the Nevada attorney general's office, Lawal's rep, Mike Kogan, stated that an over-the-counter testosterone supplement, S-Mass Lean Gainer, contains a chemical precursor to Drostanolone.
That's the steroid that recently landed the fighter in hot water.
"Ultimately an athlete is responsible for what he/she puts in their body, and Mr. Lawal's intent is not to shift blame or find an excuse," stated the letter, of which MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) obtained a copy. "His intent was to figure out for himself what may have caused this positive test so that he can make proper adjustments to his supplement list and avoid this nightmare in the future."
The letter states Lawal used the supplement on three separate occasions over a period of 20 months to combat pain and instability in his knee following multiple knee injuries. Upon discovering a third torn ACL, he discontinued its use but did not withdraw from the fight.
In a previous interview, Lawal admitted he did not disclose his use of the supplement on pre-fight medical paperwork that required him to note the supplements and medications he had taken three months prior to the fight. Medications he took included Dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory steroid administered once by a doctor Lawal saw prior to the fight; Orthovisc, a treatment for osteoarthritis used to lubricate the knee joint; and Lidocaine, a numbing agent.
However, he steadfastly denies knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.
"Before the fight, for the most part, they ask – I just don't put anything," he said. "The [Orthovisc] – I didn't think anything of it.
"This is my mistake not putting anything down, but I didn't think anything of like my Dimetapp (over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine) and amino acids and stuff. It's just general stuff. I should have, I guess. I'm still shocked from all this."
The supplement's maker, Steel Body Productions, claims on its website that S-Mass Lean Gainer is "the most powerful designer anabolic ever created and is probably the least expensive on the market."
The letter notes Lawal's "impeccable record" of testing clean in his career as an amateur wrestler and fighter, and his advocacy for Olympic-level drug testing in MMA.
Yet during an interview today with MMAFighting.com, Kogan said he won't file an appeal of Lawal's positive test with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which issued a temporary administrative suspension and sent a formal complaint to the Nevada attorney general's office after Lawal was flagged for Drostanolone.
"For his peace of mind, Mr.Lawal is satisfied with the research that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt, that [he] did not intentionally take banned substance, and had no intend to self-administer any banned substances," the letter states.
As Kogan previously noted, Lawal may be asked to appear before the NSAC in March to answer for the positive test.
"These findings will be presented to the NSAC for their consideration during Mr. Lawal's disciplinary hearing, and Mr. Lawal [will] accept whatever decision the commission will render," the letter continued. "However, in a perfect world, one must have faith in regulatory bodies and supplement manufactures, as well as supplement stores and distributors to be more responsible in the process of manufacturing and distributing supplements that are on the list of banned substances and not be driven by greed and mask the ingredient, hide nutritional facts and re-label their products to avoid detections by the regulatory bodies."
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