Do personalities like Jake Paul make fighting better? Michael Bisping speaks out
UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping talks about personalities like Jake Paul wanting to get into combat sports and the pros and cons that come with it.
When you’ve lived with tigers, had your face tattooed, and bitten a chunk out of another man’s ear in the boxing ring, it’s hard to shock anyone.
But Mike Tyson recently caused a stir during an appearance on Logan Paul’s podcast when he said he was consuming psychedelic mushrooms while training for his fight against Jake Paul on November 15.
“It takes me to heaven, baby,” Tyson said.
The former heavyweight world champion is not the only one who takes “magic” mushrooms during high-performance training.
Many professional hockey players, golfers and MMA fighters take psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic drug also known as a “magic mushroom,” during training and, in some cases, during competition, according to athletes and people familiar with the practice.
Increased alertness and faster recovery are some of the benefits of “microdosing” – taking a fraction of the normal dose of the drug and experiencing no psychoactive effects. (This doesn’t seem to be the case with Tyson.)
“You feel much more present,” says Ara Suppiah, a doctor who has worked with Ryder Cup teams and estimates that 4 to 5 percent of professional golfers take microdoses of mushrooms. He declined to name the golfers but said he does not work with them.
Professional golfer DJ Trahan, who won PGA Tour events in 2006 and 2008, said using psychedelics significantly improved his well-being starting in 2019. He said his golf career has stalled since 2021 despite occasional microdosing. But Trahan told USA TODAY Sports: “I know some people who microdose and they’ve had really tremendous success with it. And I’m not at liberty to name anyone, and I wouldn’t because that’s not my job.”
Riley Cote, a former NHL player, said he knows at least a dozen active NHL players who microdose mushrooms. He declined to name the players. Cote, known as the Enforcer, said he suffered concussions in fights on the ice and began taking psilocybin for physical and mental health reasons after his NHL career ended in 2010.
“It’s not just about performance in hockey or in sports, it’s about performance in life,” said Cote, who played 156 games for the Philadelphia Flyers between 2006 and 2010. “And I think that extends to all of these different disciplines, because elite athletes are obviously always trying to gain an advantage.”
Rashad Evans, a former UFC light heavyweight champion who last fought in 2022, said he knows at least 30 UFC fighters who regularly microdose. He said he took mushrooms while training for his 2022 fight and the drugs helped ease pain after sparring.
“The next day I feel completely re-motivated and ready to try again,” said Evans, who at 42 defeated 35-year-old Gabriel Checco by unanimous decision.
When did athletes start taking mushrooms?
It was eight years ago that Suppiah first heard about microdosing mushrooms in golf, the doctor said.
At the time, PGA Tour player Morgan Hoffman disappeared in the jungles of Costa Rica after being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and became a vocal advocate of psychedelics. He returned to the tour in 2022.
Podcasts like “The Joe Rogan Experience” have also helped spread the message, Suppiah said.
“They had guests talking about microdosing,” Suppiah said. “Joe Rogan talked about microdosing. And podcasts like that are very popular with golfers in general.”
Bramlage said he began working with hockey players six years ago because of a connection with Riley.
Ian McCall, a former MMA fighter, said he started working with other fighters five years ago. “But I didn’t see it really take off until two years ago,” he said. One of his clients is Mark Irwin, a 36-year-old bareknuckle slugger from Southern California who said he took 7.5 grams of mushrooms the night he won the 2023 BYB Extreme Lightweight title — and was back on mushrooms when he lost the title later in the year.
Ultrarunner Michael Versteeg has spoken about the use of mushrooms in training and competition.
But it was Tyson whose open use of the drug raised its profile in the sporting world. He attributed his life to psychedelics and said he took mushrooms while training for his exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr. in 2020.
Adam Bramlage, who specializes in microdosing and works with a dozen NHL players and two snowboarders, said the average dose for microdosing is 100 to 150 milligrams. He said it is taken one to two hours before training or performing and lasts four to six hours.
According to Bramlage, a two-month supply costs $100 to $200.
“Whether it’s Mike Tyson or my NHL athletes, they all get into a flow state where they’re not thinking about what they have to do later or what they did yesterday or the stressors in their life,” he said. “They’re just living in the present moment.”
What are the risks?
The use of psychoactive mushrooms is not approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since they are classified as Schedule I substances under the Controlled Substances Act, they are illegal under federal law.
However, in Oregon and Colorado, residents have voted to legalize the controlled use of psilocybin. Efforts to legalize the drug are underway elsewhere as well. One of several studies shows that the drug has benefits such as treating addiction, depression and end-of-life mood disorders.
These athletes are not at risk of a positive doping test because the drug is not on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances. However, Suppiah says that could change.
“The only question I have is whether they’re going to look at this and say is this an unfair advantage,” he said. “Is this performance enhancing and is this Adderall that you need a Therapeutic Use Exemption for to say, ‘I have attention deficit disorder, so I can take this drug?'”
According to communications manager Andrew Maggio, WADA’s Prohibited List may include any substance or method that meets two of the following three criteria:
- It has the potential to increase or improve athletic performance.
- It represents an actual or potential health risk to the athlete.
- It violates the spirit of sport (this term is defined in the World Anti-Doping Code).
Based on current knowledge, psychedelics, including psilocybin, do not meet two of the three criteria for inclusion on the list, Maggio said.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, mushroom consumption poses potential health risks. Risks listed include: increased heart rate and blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, extreme anxiety, panic and paranoia, and flashbacks.
How mushrooms influenced Tyson
There is no evidence that mushrooms are performance-enhancing drugs, said Matt Johnson, senior researcher at the Center of Excellence for Psilocybin Research and Treatment at Sheppard Pratt’s Institute for Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics in Maryland. Johnson previously worked at Johns Hopkins and conducted clinical trials on the effects of psychedelics on mystical experiences, personality changes, cancer treatment and depression, according to his biography at Sheppard Pratt’s Institute.
But Johnson said he was open to the possibility, given that Tyson has reported benefits. “I’m not dismissing that out of hand,” Johnson said. “If Mike Tyson says something enhances his performance, I would weigh that. Again, not as proof, but I would seriously weigh that.”
“I think the guy most likely knows what’s affecting his performance. That’s not to say he’s not susceptible to a placebo effect, but it’s pretty open and plausible. So yeah, I’m definitely curious about the whole situation.”
A press agent for Tyson, 58, did not respond to USA TODAY Sports’ email and text message request for comment.
Tyson’s recent appearance on the Logan Paul Show wasn’t the first time he’d discussed mushroom consumption. Three years earlier, also on Paul’s podcast, he stuffed a handful of dried mushrooms into his mouth. Johnson, the researcher, found that most people couldn’t work out with high doses of mushrooms.
Tyson says the drug helped him lose 100 pounds, quit cocaine and alcohol, and improve his relationship with his wife and children. And it helped him return to boxing.
Last month, Tyson launched a home mushroom growing kit as part of a business collaboration with TYSON 2.0, the boxer’s cannabis brand.
But in an interview that took place after Tyson suffered what his representatives described as a stomach ulcer outbreak that led to the fight being postponed, he stated he had to speak to his doctor before taking mushrooms. Based on his comments on Paul’s podcast, he seemed to have received approval.
“And he doesn’t say, ‘I hit harder,'” said James Fadiman, a psychedelic researcher and author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic and Sacred Journeys. “But he says, ‘I can more easily get in touch with this particular part of myself.'”
When Logan Paul asked Tyson why he took mushrooms while training, he answered exactly this:
“Because I feel beautiful.”
Follow Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11
