(Ha-ha!)
The UFC announced this evening that middleweight Cung Le tested positive for HGH following his gruesome defeat at the hands of Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 48 in Macau last month. This is especially hilarious because of how adamant Le was before the fight about how he wasn’t using PEDs; that photo of him looking like the Incredible damn Hulk (see above, right) was just the result of hard work and good lighting and clean living and more assorted bullshit. Cung Le is a liar, and he’ll be punished for it. Here’s the full statement from the UFC:
UFC middleweight Cung Le tested positive for an excess level of Human Growth Hormone in his system following his fight at UFC Fight Night in Macao, China on August 23. Due to his positive test result, Le was suspended by the UFC and notified that he violated the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy and Promotional Agreement with Zuffa, LLC. The UFC has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents by our athletes. Le will serve a nine-month suspension and, at its conclusion, will need to pass a drug test before competing in the UFC again.
I have three things to say about this…
1) As I wrote before the Bisping/Le fight, when it was announced that both fighters would be undergoing enhanced drug testing: “Of course, we probably won’t get the results of these tests until weeks after the fact, which does absolutely nothing to prevent potential cheaters from competing…if all these drug tests are timed so that big fights still get to proceed as scheduled, it doesn’t reflect well on the UFC’s priorities, or how serious they are about eradicating the PED epidemic.” Yep. Punishment clearly isn’t enough of a deterrent. The UFC needs to find a way to sift out the cheaters before they get into the cage.
2) Michael Bisping should earn an honorary spot in the UFC Hall of Fame for fighting the most confirmed drug users. I mean, good Lord: Chris Leben, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, and now Cung Le? And I’m not even including Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson, who became the subject of PED/drug-testing controversies after Bisping fought them.
3) Cung Le will be 43 years old when he comes back from his suspension. He couldn’t beat a upper-mid-level contender when he had chemical help, and he’ll be even worse off without his medicine. Dude, just retire.