MONTREAL — There were no hard feelings for words spoken before UFC 158, at least on Georges St-Pierre‘s side. The champion had heard any number of criticisms from challenger Nick Diaz in the months leading up to the fight, from complaints about his grinding style to insinuations of steroids use.
The latter made headlines, even though Diaz wasn’t the first GSP foe to make the inference. The same was done by B.J. Penn years ago.
Following his unanimous decision victory, St-Pierre again denied any usage of PEDs, and upped the ante by inviting more strenuous drug testing to MMA.
“Never took steroids in my life,” he said. “I’m for Olympic testing in my sport. I’m up to do the test for the Olympic test. I have no problem with that. I’m not a cheater; never cheated in my sport. And I think TRT; I’m against TRT. I’m against all this. If you want my opinion, you can test me any time, no problem. I’m for the testing. I think it should be more regulated.”
Many athletes refer to more stringent drug testing programs consistent with World Anti-Doping Agency code as “Olympic” style. Those programs usually require athletes to be available for random drug tests year-round. As it stands now in MMA, most athletes are only tested during event weeks. Many commissions reserve the right to unannounced testing, but with the sport and its followers worldwide, few have the resources to do it.
UFC president Dana White recently said he would crack down on TRT users, but that a wider, random screening program would be too costly.
“We’re regulated by state athletic commissions,” he said earlier this week. “For us to go out on our own and start drug testing every fighter under contract, it’s impossible. It’s impossible. We couldn’t do it.”
One organization — the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association — has reportedly offered to put such a program in place while covering the administrative costs. VADA’s president Dr. Margaret Goodman told MMA Fighting that so far, UFC officials have declined to meet with them regarding the offer.
St-Pierre, a winner of 11 straight after beating Diaz, insists he is clean, and that Diaz’s accusations helped fuel him.
“If someone says to me I’m athletic, I take that as compliment,” he said. “For him, in his mind, he says, ‘Oh, he needs to be on steroids, because he’s a good [athlete].’ For me, I take that as a compliment. It boosts my confidence by [him] saying that.”