“They’re [drug testing officials] not traveling to the mountains of Dagestan to give people p— test?” Joe Rogan previously pointed out the difficulties of reaching the mountain-cloaked Dagestan just to test the athletes. Training in the mountains helps some of the Russian athletes develop better conditioning. But the shadow of doping still looms large. This time, Valter Walker, a rising heavyweight star, revealed his personal experience with doping while competing in Russian MMA promotions. 

‘The Clean Monster’ began his MMA journey with Studsport St. George Cup 5, in Moscow, Russia. The first four fights of Walker’s career were in Moscow, and he won three of them with first-round finishes. Later in 2022, he returned to his homeland, Brazil, and won a bout at Arena Global 16, before returning to fight under the banner of MMA Series, Russia. And during his time in the country, he stumbled upon the shadow of doping. 

During a recent conversation with Ag Fight, the Brazilian heavyweight said, “There’s nothing (anti-doping in Russia). The guys are trying to introduce it, but if they do, MMA will be ruined. Isn’t the fun of Russian MMA doping? It’s really cool. There was a fight I’ll never forget. The guy got punched in the jaw and fell unconscious, hit his head on the ground, woke up, got up, hit the other guy, who also fell unconscious. He (also) hit his head on the ground, got up, and they started hitting each other, and the fight went to points. That’s the fun of Russian MMA. If they take it away, it’s screwed.”

While competing in Russia, Walker also used the short-term benefits of PEDs. However, when he got the chance to fight in the Octagon, he had to come out clean. But withdrawing from sustained doping often has a range of physical, psychological, and hormonal effects. Athletes who quit doping after indulging in it for more than a year usually experience loss of muscle mass and strength, reduced endurance, mood swings, anxiety, testosterone suppression, etc. And that’s exactly why Walker lost his first battle in Dana White’s fight promotion. 

The heavyweight continued, “If you walk like them, you talk like them, you look like them, (you) act like them, shit. My first UFC fight, I was still recovering from the premium fuel. Now I’m running on regular fuel. But my first UFC fight… When you’re on premium fuel, you’re up there, when you stop, you go down, then you have to go back up. I was down here when I fought that Polish guy. Now I’m already up here, I’m already in shape.”

Valter Walker has fought four times in the UFC since his debut in April 2024, and has won his last three bouts via heel hooks in the first round. His professional MMA record is 14-1-0, and he has won 10 of his fights via finishes. ‘The Clean Monster was quick to bounce back from his doping habits to entertain the UFC fans. But Joe Rogan had some stern comments regarding the anti-doping testing in Dagestan. Let’s see what he had to say. 

Joe Rogan blames the harsh terrain for the loose anti-doping testing system in Dagestan

Talking to Derek Munro from ‘More Plates More Dates’ on episode #2239 of the JRE, Rogan reflected on an MMA conspiracy theory revolving around Dagestani athletes. The UFC color commentator said, “Well, the MMA conspiracy theorists, they always point to like people doing camps in like faraway lands. Like, what a good way to cheat, you know, because if you want to go to a camp in Dagestan, like how many times is USADA going to Dagestan? And what happens to those guys when they get over there and they get smacked up by those bearded dudes? Imagine telling those guys to wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning. They’ll feed you to their goats. Like what are you talking about?”

Many Dagestani fighters, including Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Usman Nurmagomedov, have been accused of doping in the past. In 2016, Islam Makhachev tested positive for meldonium. USADA later cleared the former lightweight champion, claiming that meldonium was banned before 2016. But Makhachev claimed that he used the drug to treat his ventricular arrhythmia. Later in 2023, Makhachev got back into the headlines for allegedly flushing PEDs out of his body with the help of IV fluids. Weighing in on it, Rogan claimed, “They say that they caught him, they say they know. But I haven’t seen anything yet. So, until then, I don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Usman Nurmagomedov had to face a $50K fine and a six-month suspension because of his alleged PED abuse. However, he kept pleading that it was nothing but medication. Khabib Nurmagomedov was also accused of using PEDs, but he never really tested positive for any banned substance. But Ruslan Magomedov and Zubaira Tukhugov, members of the Dagestani team, were suspended for two years because of a failed test in 2018. But what do you think of the doping situation in Russia?