Pat Healy debuted with the UFC back at UFC 159, earning himself a submission win over Jim Miller. Only, the record books now show a no-contest as the fight’s outcome, a result of Healy‘s failed post-fight drug screening, in which he tested positive for marijuana.
Healy was stripped of the victory, but that was not the only thing his positive test cost him. The other thing he lost was $130,000 in prize money, bonuses he would have received for Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night.
The financial penalty Healy incurred quickly became the subject of much debate. Many felt it was excessive, others thought any penalization for marijuana was ridiculous and still some believed that the punishment fit the crime.
While Healy himself is no doubt disappointed, he seems to fit into the latter group, accepting the situation and acknowledging that he made a mistake.
In speaking with the MMA Hour (Healy at 2:26:55 of video), Healy addressed the issues, stating that “it was about three and a half or four weeks out” from the fight that he smoked marijuana at a friend’s birthday party.
He went on to say, “it was a huge mistake and I wish I could go back in time and slap myself because it was just a dumb thing to do.”
But Healy has learned his lesson, claiming that he is “certainly not going to [smoke] anymore,” and is just happy the UFC kept him on its roster. “Thinking about losing your job over something so stupid, it kind of changes your perspective on things.”
Healy‘s stance is a far cry from those calling foul on the commission and the UFC for the harsh penalty, yet his mild approach to the issue likely won’t stem the debate too much. Because in the end, the issue that most people have taken up here isn’t whether punishment for consuming a banned substance should have been enforced, but it’s whether that substance actually should be banned.
So long as it remains a prohibited substance, marijuana will continue to draw out penalization, and there isn’t any rhetoric that will change that.
“I don’t think it was not fair because those are the rules,” Healy admits.
And unless the rule itself is changed, the penalties will keep coming. And the onus will remain on the fighter, not the commission and not the UFC, to avoid them.
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