As accusations of PED use swirl around UFC bantamweight contender Kayla Harrison ahead of her title shot against Juliana Pena at UFC 316, a pharmaceutical chemist with experience in supplement evaluation has offered his professional perspective on the complex world of PEDs and legal performance enhancement.
The chemist, who has inspected numerous supplements for third-party associations that occasionally work with USADA, believes that many fans misunderstand the nuanced landscape of performance enhancement in modern athletics. His insights shed light on how elite athletes like the two-time Olympic gold medalist Harrison might achieve exceptional results while remaining within the bounds of anti-doping regulations.
The Grey Area of Modern Supplementation
According to the pharmaceutical expert, the key to understanding today’s landscape lies in recognizing the existence of “grey area” supplements— things that fall into a regulatory limbo where USADA must conduct additional research before determining whether they should be banned.
“Medicine is constantly evolving, with nearly 200 new medicines invented globally each year,” the chemist explains. This rapid pace of innovation creates a constant challenge for anti-doping agencies trying to keep their prohibited substance lists current.
The professional emphasizes a crucial distinction between supplements and traditional PEDs: “No supplement can match the rapid progression and results of a performance enhancing drug. However, some supplements when given to individuals with very intense workout regimens can provide near PED level results.”
Legal Performance Enhancement
For an elite athlete like Harrison, who maintains an extraordinarily disciplined lifestyle and intense training regimen, certain legal substances can provide significant performance benefits. The chemist identifies several compounds that remain legal under USADA guidelines but can offer substantial training support:
ECDYsterone stands out as a prime example of a grey area substance. Despite mixed clinical reviews and ongoing research into its efficacy, it has not yet been banned by USADA. This compound represents exactly the type of supplement that athletes might use while remaining technically compliant with current anti-doping rules.
Other legal performance enhancers include KSM-66 and Sensoril (both ashwagandha extracts), HMB (β-Hydroxy β-Methylbutyrate), and well-established supplements like Beta-Alanine and Creatine Monohydrate. When used by world-class athletes with Olympic-level training programs, these substances can provide significant competitive advantages.
The Harrison Factor
Harrison’s unique background as a two-time Olympic judo champion and two-time PFL champion places her in an elite category of athletes who have demonstrated exceptional natural ability combined with world-class training discipline. The pharmaceutical expert suggests that such athletes, when utilizing legal grey-area supplements alongside their intensive training regimens, can achieve “near maximum (but not unnatural) fitness levels.”
This perspective offers a potential explanation for Harrison’s continued success and physical conditioning without requiring any violation of anti-doping protocols. Her transition from competing at 172 pounds in Olympic judo to making the challenging cut to 135 pounds in MMA demonstrates the kind of physical adaptation that elite athletes can achieve through legitimate means.
Long-Term Implications and Concerns
The chemist raises an important point about the lasting effects of performance enhancement, noting that “d*ping can have long-term effects, so if an individual heavily induced banned substances they could retain a solid amount of their results after getting off of them.”
The expert’s analysis suggests that the modern PED testing landscape is far more nuanced than many fans realize. Athletes operating in legal grey areas might achieve results that appear suspicious to casual observers but remain entirely within the rules as currently written.
Looking Forward
Harrison prepares to face Pena at UFC 316, her confident dismissal of PED accusations—stating she remains “cool, calm, calculated” and focused on her “job to do”—aligns with someone who understands they are operating within legal boundaries.
Elite athletes like Harrison may simply be maximizing their potential through every available legitimate means.
The question for agencies becomes not just catching PED users, but staying ahead of the science that continues to push the boundaries of legal performance enhancement. As the expert notes, it would be “very curious to see who took such sub stance before and after it was banned to see the effect on win loss record”—a study that might provide valuable insights into the real-world impact of these grey area supplements.
Harrison isn’t taking the PED accusations personally. In an interview, she explained: “I’m cool, calm, calculated. It’s not personal for me,” Harrison stated. “She has what I want. I’m about to go get it. It’s as simple as that. She can say whatever she wants. She can do whatever she wants. She’s free to continue to sound insane, but I have a job to do and that’s that.”
