ADHD Medication? ‘There’s A Reason Why They’re Banned!’

Holly Holm suffered a rare finish loss in her last time out.

In the end, the second round ninja choke setback against Mayra Bueno Silva (watch highlights) wasn’t an official blemish on the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion’s record. Bueno Silva tested positive for Ritalin, an Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication, after the encounter, which resulted in a suspension from UFC’s former doping partner, United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Luckily for Bueno Silva, USADA and UFC parted ways at the end of 2023, which voided her suspension and allowed her to compete at UFC 297 for the vacant Bantamweight title earlier this month (Jan. 20, 2024). Bueno Silva came up short against Raquel Pennington via unanimous decision in the bout, but Holm believes she never should have received the opportunity to begin with.

“I don’t ever make excuses for any of my fights, you know?” Holm said on The MMA Hour. “That is not why I lost the fight. I lost focus, I messed up on things, but do I think that it’s — how things go down, I’m a clean fighter. I get tested all the time. You know what you gotta do and I think that was careless and wreckless then to be rewarded a title fight … I’m not gonna say that I think that’s the coolest thing. I’m also not gonna sit here and say anything to the point where, ‘Oh, this is why I lost,’ or anything like that.

“I should have won that fight on my own regardless,” she continued. “I know a lot of people say, ‘Oh, she didn’t really pee dirty. She just had ADHD meds.’ There’s a reason why they’re banned (laughs). They’re considered a performance enhancer. There’s all these details to it. Bottom line is, I’ll never make any excuse for my fight with her. I don’t think anybody, any of the top fighters, I don’t think you should be able to awarded a title fight coming off of something like that. I think you would at least have to have one more.”

Had the result upheld, the submission loss would have been Holm’s first since she dropped the title to Miesha Tate via fifth round rear-naked choke at UFC 196 in March 2016. “The Preacher’s Daughter” is set to return at UFC 300 when she welcomes Kayla Harrison to the promotion on April 13, 2024.