UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes there’s a strong possibility that Fedor Emelianenko, arguably the greatest heavyweight in MMA history, used performance-enhancing drugs during his undefeated run. Hardcore MMA fans remember the streak like it was yesterday. Emelianenko, the first and final Pride heavyweight champion, was the real-life version of The Undertaker in the sport’s world. […]
UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes there’s a strong possibility that Fedor Emelianenko, arguably the greatest heavyweight in MMA history, used performance-enhancing drugs during his undefeated run. Hardcore MMA fans remember the streak like it was yesterday. Emelianenko, the first and final Pride heavyweight champion, was the real-life version of The Undertaker in the sport’s world. […]
Usually when I ask that question, it’s in the wake of a pay-per-view and I’m wondering aloud at what’s next for the fighters who competed on it. This time around, I’m talking about something that affects ALL mixed martial artists in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The UFC announced last week that it will implement far stricter, far more comprehensive drug testing in the wake of fighters like Anderson Silva and Hector Lombard failing tests for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), while Jon Jones and Nick Diaz failed tests for cocaine and marijuana, respectively.
Increased drug testing and harsher penalties can only help the UFC, and mixed martial arts in general. But what brought on this increase in failed tests?
Usually when I ask that question, it’s in the wake of a pay-per-view and I’m wondering aloud at what’s next for the fighters who competed on it. This time around, I’m talking about something that affects ALL mixed martial artists in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The UFC announced last week that it will implement far stricter, far more comprehensive drug testing in the wake of fighters like Anderson Silva and Hector Lombard failing tests for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), while Jon Jones and Nick Diaz failed tests for cocaine and marijuana, respectively.
Increased drug testing and harsher penalties can only help the UFC, and mixed martial arts in general. But what brought on this increase in failed tests? PEDs have been a part of sports long before MMA fighters started taking them, and they have been a problem in MMA prior to the last month-and-a-half.
But more fighters seem to be getting caught. As in most sports, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to perform in MMA and in the UFC. If you don’t perform, you basically don’t get paid. The increased demand for UFC programming by virtue of its deal with FOX could also be a factor. They went from being on Spike TV – where they only broadcast “The Ultimate Fighter” once a year and two or three live fight cards annually – to having three or more fight cards a month and airing “The Ultimate Fighter” twice a year on the FOX channels.
The increase in programming means a need of more bodies to fill that programming. It also means that more fighters are training for more fights, which can lead to more injuries. PEDs, in addition to giving you a competitive advantage over your opponent, allow you to recover from injuries more quickly. With the need for more fighters to fill more fight cards, I think it’s possible the apparent increase in failed drug tests can at least be partly attributed to that.
Even UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta admitted during this week’s press conference that things “would get worse before they better” with the new testing. Plus, it remains to be seen how much of this will actually stick once July 1 rolls around. UFC previously considered expanding its drug-testing efforts before but pulled back, citing cost and a previously botched attempt at doing so.
However, with the rash of high-profile stars like Silva, Jones and Diaz failing tests, cost can’t be considered a hindrance and the UFC must be vigilant. Browsing my Twitter feed following the press conference, it was eerily quiet. Almost no fighters weighed in initially. It is likely that was just a byproduct of the press conference taking place on a Wednesday afternoon, when most people are working or presumably have other things to do besides post on Twitter. But it was still pretty telling. It seems like this has grabbed fighters’ attention, as it should.
What do I think will happen? There will be an increase in failed test once the new measures take effect July 1, I’m fairly confident. But given that the UFC is supporting harsh penalties for those who do fail – including a ban of up to four years – I expect the dirty fighters to eventually cycle themselves out and the ones who compete clean (which is most of them, presumably) to take a more prominent role.
Increased drug testing is long overdue in the UFC. The sport of mixed martial arts itself is still in its infancy, especially compared to other sports like football, basketball and baseball. But just like baseball is still recovering from its own crisis with PEDs, these recent failed drug tests have shaken the foundation of the UFC and have harkened back to the days when it was referred to as “human cockfighting.”
UFC adopted the slogan “The Time Is Now” for 2015, and I couldn’t agree more. The time is now for them to take the lead in cleaning up the sport of mixed martial arts.
Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also shares his thoughts on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.
As a bonafide Anderson Silva nuthugger (try not to picture that), I’ve been asking myself the same question for the past few weeks — “Why, Anderson, Why?” You were arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of our generation, maybe of all time. If Impossible was Nothing, nothing inside the cage was impossible. You, Anderson “The Spider” Silva, lived in some sort of netherworld between our world and The Matrix, where you made former champions look like amateurs and knocked out heavier men with a jab while backpedaling. Even on your worst night, you triangle-chocked victory from the loud-mouthed jaws of defeat. You were MMA’s first superhero, it’s first Superman.
Then you met your kryptonite. His name was Chris Weidman.
By CP Reader Steve Lowther
As a bonafide Anderson Silva nuthugger (try not to picture that), I’ve been asking myself the same question for the past few weeks — “Why, Anderson, Why?” You were arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of our generation, maybe of all time. If Impossible was Nothing, nothing inside the cage was impossible. You, Anderson “The Spider” Silva, lived in some sort of netherworld between our world and The Matrix, where you made former champions look like amateurs and knocked out heavier men with a jab while backpedaling. Even on your worst night, you triangle-chocked victory from the loud-mouthed jaws of defeat. You were MMA’s first superhero, it’s first Superman.
Then you met your kryptonite. His name was Chris Weidman.
This article is not about whether Silva was clowning around before Weidman knocked him out, and it won’t be about how well he was or wasn’t doing before snapping his leg in half on Weidman’s knee. It won’t be a defense of PED’s, either. It will be an attempt, probably in vain, to delve into the motivations of Anderson Silva, and why he did what he did — take steroids.
AN HONEST MISTAKE
This is the defense Silva is currently running with, and a part of me wants to believe him. He’s been fighting professionally since 1997 and not once had he failed a pre or post-fight test. Maybe Silva got some bad advice from someone close to him. Have you seen his strength and conditioning coach? He’s 57 and looks like Hercules’s favorite son. Maybe he gave Silva the blue pill instead of the red pill. Maybe Silva saw a fly-by-night doctor when he should’ve seen an accredited one. This argument is a loose one based almost solely on my nuthugging denial, but it helps me sleep better at night.
INACCURATE RESULTS
This is another part of Anderson’s current defense, “The results are wrong.” After all, he supposedly passed another pre-fight test, right (Ed note: Before failing his post-fight one)? Maybe test B’s results trump test A (Ed note: And C)? Physically, Silva doesn’t look like the ultimate-roided-fucking-killer steroids supposedly turn a man into, and I don’t know about you, but the man I saw beating Nick Diaz looked more like a tentative tactician, almost hesitant at times, not a machine gun of punches and kicks. Think about Anderson Silva in his prime, the one who lit up Chris Leben, Forrest Griffin, and Rich Franklin. Now think about that Anderson Silva on steroids. That guy I see in my head doesn’t look like the guy who beat Nick Diaz.
This wouldn’t be the first time a fighter has suffered the fallout of inaccurate testing (see: Cung Le). Although limited, there is precedent for inaccurate test results. If Anderson Silva doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, who does?
HE JUST GOT CAUGHT
This is the most cynical theory, because it suggests that Silva was on the juice throughout his entire career and just got caught. It wouldn’t be the most outlandish theory — after all, Silva didn’t begin his climb to greatness until his early to mid 30′s, a time generally considered to the be the tail end of a fighter’s prime, if not the beginning of the downswing. This theory, however, begs the question: If Silva had been on PED’s of one form or another, How and why did he get caught just now? Laziness? Incompetence? I find it hard to believe that Silva, one of the most dedicated and disciplined athletes in MMA, would somehow botch his cycling routine on what may be his last fight. That would be a sign of incompetence. Silva is many things, but a fuck-up he is not.
THE PRESSURE
To me, this is the most likely reason for Silva’s actions. We all face pressure every day in our lives. Most of us, however, don’t carry the weight of a nation on our back every time we go to work (this statement not applicable to Conor McGregor). Although the win streak and the title were gone, I have a feeling the greatest pressure Anderson felt is not from his family or fans, not from the country that he fights for, but from himself. For a guy who fights despite objections from his family, the only pressure that could make a man like Anderson Silva continue to compete must come internally. And what else could that kind of pressure do?
A poor example: When I was younger, my brother and I used to play Tekken on the good old Playstation 1. I’d beat him every game. Every. Single. Game. Then one day he beat me. I was shocked. Then he beat me again. I hated him, instantly. “One more game,” I’d say until I won again, which I did the third time around. But that feeling, that need to avenge my loss, to not quit before tasting victory again, I experienced it at the smallest level. Could Anderson have experienced it at the highest?
THE PROBABLE REALITY
The sad thing is, we’ll never truly know why Anderson did what he did, why he decided to take steroids leading up to his fight with Diaz, of all people. He’d faced killers before, and on paper Nick Diaz was a walking punching bag, a gimme fight. Silva can argue test results all he wants, but the NSAC isn’t some shanty-lab in Hong Kong. The timing of the test results are suspect; the results themselves are not.
The question lingers: “Why, Anderson, Why?” Why risk tarnishing your legacy? Maybe Anderson was afraid to suffer that third loss. Maybe he was afraid to let down his fans and country yet again. Maybe he thought he needed that edge to perform, that kick-in-the-butt to get over the hump in rehab or in training. To me, his legacy as the greatest striker and arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of our generation will remain. Unfortunately for Silva, I seem to be the minority, and from this moment forward, like Barry Bonds, there will always be an asterisk next to Anderson Silva and his accomplishments.
Thankfully, White handed the reins over to the cool and collected Lorenzo Fertitta after announcing that Macdonald would instead face Robbie Lawler for the welterweight title on July 11th (the timing of which seemed…odd). From there, Fertitta dropped a bombshell of an announcement in regards to the future of drug testing in the UFC. Join us after the jump for all the details.
Unlike the NSAC meeting that preceded it, yesterday’s UFC press conference actually managed to make some huge waves in the MMAsphere.
Thankfully, White handed the reins over to the cool and collected Lorenzo Fertitta after announcing that Macdonald would instead face Robbie Lawler for the welterweight title on July 11th (the timing of which seemed…odd). From there, Fertitta dropped a bombshell of an announcement in regards to the future of drug testing in the UFC. Join us after the jump for all the details.
Starting on July 1st, the UFC will begin administering random, year-round and out-of-competition drug tests to *all* of its 585 fighter roster. The UFC will also administer mandatory, enhanced out-of-competition drug testing to main event and championship fighters on all cards starting in July as well.
“You will be tested in competition, you will be tested out of competition, and if you are using, you will be caught,” said Fertitta.
“We’ve been working on this a couple years; we’ve been in conversations with third parties for six or seven months,” Fertitta said. “What the Anderson Silva thing prompted us to address the issues and speed up the process. We don’t have the luxury of debating all these points. We’ve got to just go. The results are going to be what the results are going to be.”
When addressing how they thought this would impact the current roster, Fertitta was surprisingly candid, stating, “Honestly, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
In addition to announcing the year-round drug testing policy, Fertitta also stated that, while still following the lead of the athletic commissions in place, the UFC would be advocating for stronger punishments for athletes caught using banned substances moving forward. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), for instance, has been discussing changing the bans for first time offenders from two years to four (!), which the UFC is prepared to back in either case.
“We certainly advocate for (a two-year ban).” said Fertitta “We are committed to it in every way that you possibly could be. There should be no mistake there. This is a call-out to all of the athletes on our roster: You’ll be tested in competition, you’ll be tested out of competition, and if you’re using, you will be caught, and there will be significant penalties that go along with that.”
“If we lose main events, we lose main events. (Matchmakers) Joe Silva and Sean Shelby are going to have to get just a little more creative.”
The obvious exclusion to this policy would be overseas events, which are largely self-regulated and would therefore fall on the UFC in regards to specific penalties. Should longer suspensions be put into place and a champion be caught using, Fertitta also claimed that said champion would be stripped of their title.
Wow. The UFC is making moves, it seems, and its about damn time. Of course, these new policies open the floodgates for a lot of questions, like whether or not the UFC will choose to add on to commission-handed punishments should said commissions decide not increase the length of suspensions. Steven Marrocco has laid out a few more questions regarding the UFC’s new policy over at MMAJunkie, and we’d highly recommend that you check it out.
So yeah, there’s a lot of outliers right now, but let’s all keep our fingers crossed and pray that this doesn’t turn into a complete shitshow.
You can listen to the full audio of yesterdays press conference below, via Submission Radio.
You aren’t going to like this. The price of expunging performance-enhancing drugs from mixed martial arts will be steep, and fans will need to shoulder at least some of the cost. Sorry, I know that stinks to hear. At this point, though, we all owe it to each other to start telling the difficult truth. […]
You aren’t going to like this. The price of expunging performance-enhancing drugs from mixed martial arts will be steep, and fans will need to shoulder at least some of the cost. Sorry, I know that stinks to hear. At this point, though, we all owe it to each other to start telling the difficult truth. […]
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has a drug problem. If you weren’t already aware of this, you are now. 2015 started off with a bang for the promotion, with two consecutive pay-per-view events headlined by appealing fights. Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier? Sign me up for that one. The return of both Anderson Silva and Nick […]
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has a drug problem. If you weren’t already aware of this, you are now. 2015 started off with a bang for the promotion, with two consecutive pay-per-view events headlined by appealing fights. Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier? Sign me up for that one. The return of both Anderson Silva and Nick […]
