(In retrospect, this news should not come as a huge surprise.)
While appearing on a recent edition of MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour, former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin informed Ariel Helwani that following his UFC 101 loss to Anderson Silva back in 2009, he failed his post-fight drug test. No, not for elevated levels of testosterone, but for Xanax of all things:
I failed my drug test I think for Xanax. I had a doctor’s prescription, I was just, I didn’t do it before the fight, I did it the night before, I was nervous and I couldn’t sleep.
Why this failed test was not made public by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission is anyone’s guess, but we’re going to assume that Griffin was simply given a pass because he was essentially fed to the wolves over an open flame. That, and it seems that the idea of fighting Silva is enough to make any of his opponents at LHW become suddenly dependent on an outside prescription for one thing or another. Just ask James Irvin. Unfortunately, judging by Griffin’s performance that night, we’re guessing he was accidentally prescribed the extended release form of Xanax, hence his inability to throw a punch that Silva couldn’t see coming from a mile away. As Paulo Filho will tell you, Xanax and MMA does not a winning performance make.
But according to the always self-deprecating Griffin, the Silva fight was simply a harsh, harsh learning experience that he could only improve from. Now THAT’s optimism, Nation.
Look what happened when I fought Anderson Silva. It can’t possibly get worse than that. I’ve already seen the bottom and it wasn’t that bad. I made it through. I survived. It’s fighting. It’s not the end of the world.
Let the countdown to Stephan Bonnar’s inevitable positive test for a low grade beaver tranquilizer begin…