“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on May 15th, 2008, five years ago today.
Carina Damm Proves That Steroid Controversies Aren’t Just For Men Anymore
It’s almost always a good thing to be the first woman to do something. That’s because usually, if a woman hasn’t done that thing yet, it means that it’s either really hard or men have been real jerks about it and kept women out like ten-year-olds with a clubhouse. Well, Brazilian Carina Damm just etched her name in the record books by becoming the first female MMA figher to test positive for steroids. That is not the clubhouse you want to be hanging out in. Not unless you love powerlifting and back acne.
Sherdog reported today that Damm tested positive for Nandrolone (that’s right, the same thing Sean Sherk tested positive for) after her April 3 victory over Sophie Bagherdai at Femme Fatale Fighting 4 in Los Angeles. This news comes at a particularly bad time for Damm, since she was recently signed to take on Debi Purcell on an Elite XC card on June 27. Purcell seemed annoyed, though not surprised by the news.
“It was obvious she was doing it [steroids], but I was just going to out-cardio and out-muscle her anyways. I’ve been lifting for my whole life, everyday for I don’t know how many years. People have accused me of doing steroids because I have muscles, which isn’t fair. But you can’t go have a normal body and two months later be huge.”
If you’re wondering whether Damm might be a victim of the faulty testing procedures that Sherk is considering suing the CSAC over…there’s something you should know. The “normal” level of Nandrolone in a person is 2 ng/mL. An athlete participating in “vigorous activity” can legally get away with 6 ng/mL. When Sherk tested positive, it was with 12 ng/mL in his system. Carina Damm tested at 37.9 ng/mL. Now that’s how you fail a steroid test, people.
Am I the only one thinking this may help Sean Sherk? A female fighter fails the test with three times the Nandrolone levels that he had, that makes you wonder what a positive test really looks like. Then again, it could just be because those Brazilians don’t do anything half-ass.