Former UFC lightweight Jason High is unhappy about being unceremoniously cut from the promotion for pushing a referee while Chael Sonnen is given the benefit of the doubt for failing his second drug test in 34 months.
UFC president Dana White had some harsh words regarding High’s firing on Tuesday while he was sympathetic over Sonnen testing positive for two anti-estrogenic drugs.
As far as “The Kansas City Bandit” is concerned, that’s a double standard, and he wasn’t shy about expressing his opinion on Twitter Thursday morning.
Push steroids, not referees. #NOTED
— Marcelino Evil (@KCBanditMMA) June 12, 2014
In case there was any uncertainty on how he feels, he quickly followed up to drive the point home.
IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! Oh well…
— Marcelino Evil (@KCBanditMMA) June 12, 2014
After 22 professional fights at 170 pounds, High cut down to lightweight for UFC Fight Night 42 on Saturday to square off with contender Rafael dos Anjos.
After a competitive eight minutes or so of action, RDA dropped High with a punch and followed up with hammer fists on the ground before referee Kevin Mulhall waved the fight off.
While many fans, fighters and analysts were in agreement the fight was stopped a bit prematurely, no one could defend the fact that High shoved Mulhall in the heat of the moment.
Although he apologized, the UFC clearly was not interested in hearing excuses in this matter.
As far as Sonnen goes, he explained that his recent failed drug test was because he was using drugs to taper off testosterone replacement therapy—which was banned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in February.
He swore to appeal the matter since he felt the rules he violated were unclear, but then out of nowhere, Sonnen announced his retirement from the sport on Wednesday, per FOX Sports.
Sonnen also failed a drug test after his thrilling UFC 117 middleweight title fight with then-champ Anderson Silva, testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone and receiving a one-year suspension from the NSAC as a result, per Sherdog.
Was there a double standard in place by the UFC when dealing with improprieties committed by High and Sonnen, or are the two situations so different, it’s a classic case of comparing apples and oranges?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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