Report: Nearly half of MMA fighters now use marijuana

A new report from The Athletic suggests that nearly half of MMA fighters now use marijuana for recovery or recreational purposes.

The Athletic polled 170 MMA fighters from promotions all over the world and found that 45.9 percent use marijuana, while 76.5 percent say they have used CBD products. Additionally, 4.7 percent of the fighters polled used marijuana in the past but now don’t.

Check out a Tweet below from The Athletic’s Greg Rosenstein with the numbers.

New on @TheAthleticMMA: After a poll of 170 fighters…

– 45.9% said they currently use marijuana for either recovery or recreational purposes.

– 76.5% said they have used CBD products.

“I think that sounds pretty accurate.” – @JeffNovitzkyUFC.

More: https://t.co/TrPJsybkuP

— Greg Rosenstein (@grosenstein) June 1, 2020

New on @TheAthleticMMA : After a poll of 170 fighters… – 45.9% said they currently use marijuana for either recovery or recreational purposes. – 76.5% said they have used CBD products.

UFC Senior VP of Athlete Health and Performance provided the following quote about the study’s findings.

“I think that sounds pretty accurate. I’ve never polled our roster — it’s all anecdotal — but I have had many, many, many discussions. It’s probably the No. 1 topic of questions that I’m asked from fighters,” Novitzky said.

It’s widely known that many MMA fighters use marijuana either to help recover and heal from injuries incurred during training or in fights, or some just use it recreationally, but the actual number has never been known. While not every single fighter in the sport was asked by the Athletic if they used marijuana, a good and fair representation was involved in the study, making its findings appear to be quite accurate.

The sport has seen the laws against marijuana loosen up in recent years, though we still aren’t at the point where it’s accepted everywhere. Kelvin Gastelum, for instance, recently finished up a suspension after testing positive for marijuana following his fight against Darren Till. While we are still not at the point where fighters aren’t getting sanctioned for using it, the fact almost half of MMA fighters use suggests the rules need even more loosening.

Are you surprised at all by the number of MMA fighters who use marijuana?