When speaking of Ozone therapy, one may ask a series of relevant questions. Firstly, what the hell is Ozone, or more techincally 'O3'? Secondly, how does it help the body, or how does it help athletes in cheating by recovering more quickly?
Well, Ozone Therapy is a VO2 max enhancer which is introduced to the bloodstream via (mostly) intraveneous methods, and just like Erythropoietin treatment (EPO) the process usually requires a blood transfusion. A UFC athlete named Ion Cutelaba recently got busted by USADA for using Ozone therapy to increase oxygen flow to the blood, but he only received a 6 month ban because Ozone Therapy technically isn't banned.
The scenario for Ion's ban was USADA's reasoning that the only reason athletes every really get O3 Therapy is to conceal the fact that they are in fact using EPO, also known as 'blood doping'. Ion seemed much more physically strong in his fight against Henrique Da Silva, a fight in which he was able to secure his first, first round knockout... yet coincidentally he gets popped for Ozone therapy right after.
I think that performance enhancing drugs and methods will always exist, but to be honest, this is all a part of the evolution of the human body and psyche. I am against unfair advantages, but I am also against USADA's methods which are not 100% fail-proof either.
A lot of athletes get pinned with things like vitamins being contaminated, but even trace amounts of a banned substance can bring speculation and grief to an athlete's career.
It is quite conflicting because there are some fighters that blatantly use performance enhancers.
This is a combination of them being caught in the past, having an enhanced physique from anytime we've seen them in the past, and results in the cage are another way of suspecting some type of PED being used. The market and trade for PEDs is as rampant as ever even with strict regulations across most every sport.
What do you think of banned substances and PEDs? Is there a way to eradicate them forever?
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