The UFC to allow the use of CBD

The medicinal properties of cannabis are growing every day; you can find hundreds of different strains designed for specific illnesses, meaning that more countries and organizations are opening their doors to this magnificent plant. This time around, we’re talking about the world of sport; the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) has declared that the UFC will begin allowing their fighters to use CBD.

We all know about CBD’s amazing pain relief and anti-inflammatory properties thanks to studies that have been done and are still being done, as well as the thousands of patients that use it to treat their illnesses. This cannabinoid is making a place for itself among the most efficient kinds of medicine in the world.

Up until the appearance of this law CBD or any other cannabinoid was completely prohibited in this sport, which pushed athletes to not use it or hide the fact that they use it. It’s impossible to tell how many fighters use CBD without making their names public, so we’ll have to wait until 2018 when it becomes legal and they have the freedom to use it without being sanctioned.

The first fighter to come out in public as a CBD user was Nate Diaz, who took a vaporizer out on live TV in an interview he had right after a fight with Conor McGregor. In the middle of the interview, Nate was using his vaporizer and a reporter asked him what he was smoking. He had no issue with saying that he was consuming CBD and he stated that as an athlete, CBD helped him recover faster after fights and therefore makes his life as a fighter easier.

The WADA has also explicitly said that they will not tolerate the use of other kinds of cannabinoids, stating with complete authority that CBD is the only cannabinoid that athletes will be allowed to consume. If CBD extractions are to be consumed, the fighters must make sure that they contain no traces of THC as it is still completely forbidden and any fighter that is discovered with THC in their system will be automatically sanctioned.

With the proper legislation CBD can offer an infinite amount of possibilities in the world of sports; it can be used to treat injuries, accelerating considerably recovery time. In contact spots like Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) CBD’s properties can be even more useful, allowing consumers to begin their training sessions earlier. If consumed before practicing any kind of sport, the users muscles will be in a more relaxed state and therefore easier to move, making it harder for them to get injured or fractured bones.

The UFC is considered one of the most important MMA leagues in the world, with various categories and various levels that englobe even the lower leagues where top fighters are scouted as well as the professional league that we’ve all heard of.

This isn’t the first time that a cannabinoid has been used to treat issues caused by professional sports, and we’ve already written an article about ex NFL players that have used THC to treat schizophrenia and other mental degeneration illnesses caused by receiving hard bangs on the head during their careers. Other big sports leagues like the NBA still don’t allow the use of this cannabinoid, although some players use it anyway.

Author: Luis Picazo
Translation: Ciara Murphy