Reports: UFC, Johns Hopkins Discuss Possible Psychedelic Therapy Study for Fighters

UFC, the top mixed martial arts promotion in the United States, has approached researchers at Johns Hopkins University to explore the potential use of psychedelics in treatment for its fighters, according to a report published by Yahoo.

“They’re micro-dosing psychedelics and they’re saying that it’s helping some of these guys with brain injuries,” UFC president Dana White told Yahoo. “We’ve talked to Johns Hopkins and we’re working on getting us involved with that too. ... The list goes on and on of all the things that we’ve done to try to improve the sport.”

Johns Hopkins was the first group in the nation to receive approval to resume psychedelics-involved research in 2000 after a decades-long hiatus across the U.S. After publishing results of a study on the safety and enduring positive effects of a single dose of psilocybin in 2006, the university has since published additional studies in more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, demonstrating the therapeutic effects of psychedelics for patients with addiction, existential distress and treatment-resistant depression.

Current and past UFC fighters could be recruited for future psychedelics research at Johns Hopkins, Jeff Novitzky, the league’s senior VP of health and performance, told ESPN.

In addition to its discussions with Johns Hopkins on collaboration to study the use of psychedelics for the treatment of brain injuries sustained by its fighters, UFC also recently contributed $1 million for an athlete brain study at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.