King Mo Uses Compressed Oxygen at Strikeforce in Houston

King Mo - Powered by sports oxygen for extra endurance and a strong finish.

Does MMA’s Use of Canned Oxygen Signal a Shift in Sports?

You might be familiar with oxygen supplements as being the ones stored in huge tanks used by hospitals. These days, however, there are canned oxygen supplements that almost anybody can use – and not just for medical purposes.

High-performance athletes who would like to enjoy the benefits of breathing 99% pure oxygen can easily do so, with the help of canned oxygen supplements.

Strikeforce Houston Allows Use of Canned Oxygen during Fights

If you’re an avid sports fan, you might have seen canned oxygen supplements being used by football players. But just recently, the Mixed Martial Arts community was surprised to see two headline fighters use canned breathing oxygen during a fight. The Strikeforce MMA event was held in Houston, Texas – and fighters King Mo Lawal and KJ Noons publicly used breathing oxygen.

Fans who think that this supplement is illegal have another think coming – the use of supplemental oxygen was actually ruled legal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The agency is responsible for making rulings on performance-enhancing substances.

During the Lawal-Noons match, canned oxygen supplements were presented to the Texas Fight Commissioner and both ringside doctors approved its use before and during the fight. At ringside, a canned oxygen supplement was presented to referee Big John McCarthy, who got confirmation from the ringside doctors – and it was allowed to be used by both athletes.

Benefits of Portable Breathing Oxygen

So why did football players get into the habit of breathing through a canned oxygen canister in the first place? What effect does it have when they’re using their physical abilities out in the field?

There is actually no documented or scientific proof that breathing oxygen can enhance athletic performance. What it does is flood the body with oxygen, which in turn brings the following results:

Allow the muscles to become more ‘explosive’ by having greater ATP or Adenosine Triphosphate production. This is the main energy source for muscles which is created with glucose and oxygen. Help delay lactic acid production in the muscles.

Boost the body’s metabolic lactic acid – which results in faster recovery time after strenuous physical activity.

Breathing in oxygen is also said to improve an athlete’s focus and mental clarity. Let’s take the two athletes who used canned oxygen as an example. During the MMA fight, they were allowed to take deep breaths from the canned oxygen supplement. The result is that both fighters are able to recover almost instantaneously from the physical stress of the previous round – so they can perform better during the succeeding rounds without having to worry about exhaustion.

Canned Oxygen could up the Ante in Sports Events

Next, how will using canned oxygen affect the performance of high-performance athletes as they play their particular sport? There are actually two sides of the coin that need to be considered. On the one hand, most athletic commissions do not allow anything nutritional besides water during boxing, martial arts or similar fights. The conclusion is that if a fighter did not train hard enough so he is unable to sustain his lactic acid production during a match – he should not even be given the benefit of using breathing oxygen.

On the other hand, using breathing oxygen during fights will almost instantly revive an athlete – so he would be able to fight better, for a longer period of time. This means that fights will become more exciting for fans, increasing the sports’ popularity and viewership.

In MMA, one concrete example is the outcome of the Shane Carwin-Brock Lesner fight. During the first round, it was Shane who dominated the game. During the second round, he was already in lactic acid overload so he was unable to fight off Brock. If only he and his camp thought of using canned oxygen, he should have been able to recover more quickly – modifying the results of the match.

Nothing’s more frustrating for fans to watch a highly-anticipated fight, only to have one of the athletes get knocked out so early in the game due to lack of endurance. They’d feel that they have gotten their money’s worth once they see the fight go the distance. This is where canned oxygen supplements come in. Despite its being a relatively new concept in the field of sports, canned oxygen has a huge potential to up the ante in athletes’ performances during sporting events.

Whether it’s martial arts, football, boxing, hockey, tennis, soccer or basketball, the benefits of using canned oxygen will definitely signal a shift in sports – by increasing the endurance and improving the performance of professional athletes.

In a story originally published by MiddleEasy.com, it was stated that "compressed oxygen is a substance banned from nearly every endurance sport, including MMA; in every state, including Texas." The publication also  provided photos depicting both fighters ingesting the then unknown substance on national television.

Is this product Iegal for MMA

According to an update provided by MMAFighting.com, the assertion that compressed oxygen is banned by the state of Texas is incorrect. In fact, Dr. Jorge Guerrero, who was the supervising ring physician in charge Saturday night, said that while he has never seen canned oxygen used in his 31 years of overseeing boxing and MMA events, the fighters in question did nothing wrong.

"Is there controversy about this?" Guerrero asked. "The fighters didn't use anything against the rules. When it's something that's not overtly prohibited or limited, it's usually left up to the doctors at ringside, and we make the call on the spot. I think that's what happened here."

It was also noted that the effectiveness of compressed oxygen is still questioned by many doctors and studies.

"Oxygen to me is not an enhancing chemical or a super chemical," Guerrero said. "I think you have more problems with adrenaline than you would with 02. This is not a top priority for me to limit or decrease usage. It's just unimportant."

While the regulation of such products vary from state to state, in this case it appears that both Lawal and Noons have been cleared of any wrong doing.