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.
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.
Until now, UFC brass has claimed that the expense of such a program would be prohibitive, and the promotion has left much of the drug-testing responsibility in the hands of local athletic commissions, only supporting random testing on an occasional basis. But with the PED epidemic growing worse in MMA, the sport’s leading promotion will be making the financial investment necessary to combat the problem, and UFC officials hope to have the new drug-screening system in place by the end of the year. From the ESPN report:
According to UFC vice president of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner, the promotion is in discussion with “four to five” independent drug-testing agencies and is hopeful to officially partner with one by the end of 2014.
The end goal is unannounced, year-round blood and urine tests on the UFC’s stable of approximately 500 athletes using an independent sample collector.
“We are meeting with different companies right now and we’re going to have out-of-competition testing,” Ratner told ESPN.com. “We’re not sure when it’s going to start, but we’re working on it right now.
“Unannounced blood and urine is going to happen, hopefully in the next three or four months. When you’re talking about 500 fighters, there are a lot of logistics. Having fighters in foreign countries makes it tougher, but we’re coming up with a plan and (agencies) are making proposals to us in the next two weeks”…
(Until now, the UFC has mainly relied on the “screenshot comparison” method.)
Until now, UFC brass has claimed that the expense of such a program would be prohibitive, and the promotion has left much of the drug-testing responsibility in the hands of local athletic commissions, only supporting random testing on an occasional basis. But with the PED epidemic growing worse in MMA, the sport’s leading promotion will be making the financial investment necessary to combat the problem, and UFC officials hope to have the new drug-screening system in place by the end of the year. From the ESPN report:
According to UFC vice president of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner, the promotion is in discussion with “four to five” independent drug-testing agencies and is hopeful to officially partner with one by the end of 2014.
The end goal is unannounced, year-round blood and urine tests on the UFC’s stable of approximately 500 athletes using an independent sample collector.
“We are meeting with different companies right now and we’re going to have out-of-competition testing,” Ratner told ESPN.com. “We’re not sure when it’s going to start, but we’re working on it right now.
“Unannounced blood and urine is going to happen, hopefully in the next three or four months. When you’re talking about 500 fighters, there are a lot of logistics. Having fighters in foreign countries makes it tougher, but we’re coming up with a plan and (agencies) are making proposals to us in the next two weeks”…
The UFC has worked with several commissions this year to implement an “enhanced program,” which blood-tests athletes during the weeks before a fight, as opposed to traditional fight night urine tests. The cost of one of those programs can be in excess of $40,000. The majority of state athletic commissions simply can’t afford those costs…
Partnering with an independent party, such as the United States Anti-Doping Agency or the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, for example, could help lower costs for the UFC. Ratner declined to provide specifics of the proposed program, citing ongoing internal discussions.
“The UFC will be randomly testing a percentage of fighters,” Ratner said. “When we decide on this regiment, it’s going to be a big cost but it’s well worth it when we do these out-of-competition tests.”
The reason an enhanced program is necessary is that certain banned substances are only detectable in blood and only for a short amount of time. Random blood testing is far more effective than the urine tests athletes expect to take the night of a fight…
The UFC has expressed its commitment in lowering PED use by funding the enhanced programs in Nevada, Maryland and British Columbia. Additionally, Ratner says all incoming athletes are tested before signing a contract with the UFC. Last weekend in Macau, China, the UFC implemented blood testing for the first time at a self-regulated event. Still, the need for comprehensive, year-round random blood tests is undeniable in MMA.
Inside the UFC specifically, that need has drawn plenty of attention in 2014.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones requested random blood tests ahead of a title defense against Glover Teixeira in Baltimore. Former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has stated he will not compete in the UFC again unless he and his opponent are tested by a “credible, independent anti-doping organization.”
Starting with Nevada’s banning of TRT exceptions back in February, 2014 has been an incredibly productive year for anti-PED measures in MMA. Random, enhanced testing for all UFC fighters will mark another significant step toward cleaning up the sport. Of course, to really give the new policy some teeth, cheaters will have to be caught early enough to actually prevent them from competing; punishing them after the fact doesn’t do much to fix the problem of juiced-up fighters in the Octagon.
Nevertheless, it’s good to see the UFC put some effort into fighting the sport’s drug problem. Thumbs up, guys.
(And yet, this is still the most shameful thing that Kevin Casey has ever done.)
Drug testing at the UFC’s back-to-back events in Las Vegas earlier this month caught two more PED-cheaters, who will be facing fines, suspensions, and the overturning of their victories. MMA Junkie broke the news yesterday evening.
We’ll begin with middleweight Kevin Casey, who tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone following his 61-second TKO of Bubba Bush in the curtain-jerking match at UFC 175. The fight represented a second chance in the UFC for “King” Casey, who bounced out of the promotion last year after a stint on TUF 17. Unfortunately, Casey has pissed all over that chance, and might find himself on the chopping block after this one.
And in “enough testosterone to choke a horse” news…
(And yet, this is still the most shameful thing that Kevin Casey has ever done.)
Drug testing at the UFC’s back-to-back events in Las Vegas earlier this month caught two more PED-cheaters, who will be facing fines, suspensions, and the overturning of their victories, pending a formal hearing. MMA Junkie broke the news yesterday evening.
We’ll begin with middleweight Kevin Casey, who tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone following his 61-second TKO of Bubba Bush in the curtain-jerking match at UFC 175 on July 5th. The fight represented a second chance in the UFC for “King” Casey, who bounced out of the promotion last year after a stint on TUF 17. Unfortunately, Casey has pissed all over that chance, and might find himself on the chopping block after this one.
And in “enough testosterone to choke a horse” news, light-heavyweight jiu-jitsu phenom Robert Drysdale was caught with an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio of 12:1 following his first-round submission win over Keith Berish at the TUF 19 Finale on July 6th. The allowed ratio in Nevada is 6:1, which is already a much higher T/E ratio than any human being should have naturally.
Even though Drysdale’s appearance at the TUF 19 Finale marked his UFC debut, it’s actually the second drug test he’s failed for elevated testosterone. In 2013, Drysdale was denied a license to compete at UFC 167 after an out-of-competition drug test came back with a whopping 19.4:1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio. Following his first failed drug test, Drysdale claimed that he was only on TRT for a little over a month, and he wasn’t on it long enough to feel much of an effect. (“I will not take an ounce of blame for dishonesty, because there was no dishonesty on my part. I would take some blame for not understanding the process.”)
I wonder how much blame Drysdale will accept for this one. At any rate, having more failed drug tests than actual fights in the UFC is a bad look. We’ll keep you posted when punishments are officially handed down for Drysdale and Casey.
In the wake of this news, we’ve made a long-overdue update to our MMA and Testosterone Bust Timeline, which turned five years old yesterday. Time flies when you’re juiced to the gills.
“Right now [Belfort is] down in Brazil, or back in you know California, training his butt off and injecting anything that he wants to and loving it, and nobody’s testing him, or like his doctor — when I say his, I’m making quotation fingers ‘doctor’ — so he’s like dripping testosterone out of his eyeballs right now. How old was he when he first failed a drug test, like 18? For anabolic steroids? So he’s being using for 20 years. Your body doesn’t function naturally now. He’s what, 37 or 38? So like 18 years…
(We get it, dude, you’re scary. / Photo via gerbergear.com)
“Right now [Belfort is] down in Brazil, or back in you know California, training his butt off and injecting anything that he wants to and loving it, and nobody’s testing him, or like his doctor — when I say his, I’m making quotation fingers ‘doctor’ — so he’s like dripping testosterone out of his eyeballs right now. How old was he when he first failed a drug test, like 18? For anabolic steroids? So he’s being using for 20 years. Your body doesn’t function naturally now. He’s what, 37 or 38? So like 18 years.
“But there’s no possible way that he could compete at a high level against the Chris Weidmans, the me’s, the Luke Rockholds without chemically enhancing himself. There’s no way. I don’t care if he’s like, drinking Jesus’ blood like he says he is or whatever, it doesn’t work that way. Like, he’s been using steroids for like 15 or 20 years, and he still is using them. If he ever tries to get clean, he can’t compete at this level.”
First off, let’s applaud Kennedy for his use of “the me’s” in a hypothetical list of people that Belfort might fight. I’ve never seen that done before, and Kennedy managed to pull it off.
Beyond that, this is some of the most effective trash-talk I’ve seen in recent memory. It gives Kennedy moral high ground while simultaneously serving as a devastating personal attack, accusing Belfort of using steroids for decades. (And loving it!) Plus, invoking Jesus’s name makes it personal. No matter what happens between Belfort and Weidman, the Phenom will likely want to fight Kennedy next — which is the whole point.
(Bagautinov’s doping wasn’t enough to earn him a victory — but that’s no reason to let him off the hook. / Photo via MMAJunkie)
Now that random drug testing is nailing MMA fighters on a regularbasis, the truth is inescapable: PEDs have become the sport’s most urgent and embarrassing problem. But not every fighter is an anti-drug crusader like Tim Kennedy and Georges St. Pierre. Before his star-making beatdown of Diego Brandao at UFC Fight Night 46 on Saturday, Conor McGregortold MMAJunkie how he really feels about performance-enhancing drugs:
“I don’t really care about that stupid s–t,” McGregor said. “I’m just doing my thing. I’m just performing and getting better. I don’t care what anyone else does….Take whatever you want, I’m still going to whoop your ass.”
“I don’t care if my opponents are cheating or not,” Johnson said. “I train my butt off to fight the man who is put in front of me whether he’s on steroids or not. I want to play on a level playing field, but if they knew about it beforehand and didn’t stop it, at the same time, I took care of business. No big deal.”
Except it is a big deal, and saying otherwise makes MMA look like a joke.
Look, I get it. Claiming that you don’t care if your opponents are doping scores you badass points, and it can endear you to the segment of the MMA fanbase that really doesn’t care about the ongoing scourge of PEDs. (“I like Conor because he doesn’t bitch about drug-testing like these other pussies. Let ’em take what they want!” — Darryl T. Justbleedguy)
(Bagautinov’s doping wasn’t enough to earn him a victory — but that’s no reason to let him off the hook. / Photo via MMAJunkie)
Now that random drug testing is nailing MMA fighters on a regularbasis, the truth is inescapable: PEDs have become the sport’s most urgent and embarrassing problem. But not every fighter is an anti-drug crusader like Tim Kennedy and Georges St. Pierre. Before his star-making beatdown of Diego Brandao at UFC Fight Night 46 on Saturday, Conor McGregortold MMAJunkie how he really feels about performance-enhancing drugs:
“I don’t really care about that stupid s–t,” McGregor said. “I’m just doing my thing. I’m just performing and getting better. I don’t care what anyone else does….Take whatever you want, I’m still going to whoop your ass.”
“I don’t care if my opponents are cheating or not,” Johnson said. “I train my butt off to fight the man who is put in front of me whether he’s on steroids or not. I want to play on a level playing field, but if they knew about it beforehand and didn’t stop it, at the same time, I took care of business. No big deal.”
Except it is a big deal, and saying otherwise makes MMA look like a joke.
Look, I get it. Claiming that you don’t care if your opponents are doping scores you badass points, and it can endear you to the segment of the MMA fanbase that really doesn’t care about the ongoing scourge of PEDs. (“I like Conor because he doesn’t bitch about drug-testing like these other pussies. Let ‘em take what they want!” — Darryl T. Justbleedguy)
But that “Do what thou wilt” stance towards cheating — especially when it’s expressed by champions and top contenders — is exactly the kind of thing that will keep mixed martial arts ghettoized as a small-time sideshow. At a time when MMA’s drug problem is reaching the ears of mainstream sports fans, we don’t need the UFC’s most public faces to play devil’s advocate and argue that doping is acceptable behavior.
To paraphrase the 24th Thesis: Do you half-wits realize that athletes of other sports do not behave this way? Is Yasiel Puig doing interviews claiming that A-Rod should be able to take as many steroids as he wants? Have you ever heard Peyton Manning say, “yeah, the Chargers can grab our face masks all game, we’re still gonna whoop ‘em on Sunday.” Of course not, because why in God’s name would a professional athlete support cheating? Why wouldn’t you care that your opponents are competing with an unfair advantage, if you’re trying to win?
By the estimates of every MMA fighter who has dared to speak out about it, at least half of MMA fighters use performance enhancing drugs. Some fighters, like Matt Serra and Krzysztof Soszynski, have stated that only a small percentage of professional fighters don’t do some form of illegal doping. (“I don’t give a [expletive] if it’s happening in baseball,” Serra said. “But when a guy can kick your head off, someone can get hurt. There’s a chance for serious bodily harm.”) But if you make a stink about it, you’re a troublemaker, and if you pretend that PEDs aren’t really a big deal, you’re a superhero. I mean, after all, it’s a fist fight, y’know? Chemicals don’t give you technique or heart, and those steroids aren’t gonna help you when I touch your chin. Ugh.
Random question: If Demetrious Johnson lost to Ali Bagautinov, would he feel the same way about PEDs — that doping is “no big deal”? And if he tried to defend Bagautinov’s EPO-usage after that loss, how ridiculous would he sound?
MMA fighters are a different breed — for better or worse — and the tough-guy culture of the sport leads generally-rational fighters to say some boneheaded shit. While I’m sure that many MMA fans would be fine with the sport returning to its barely regulated Golden Age (PRIDE NEVA DIE…OR TEST FOR STEROIDS!), anybody who wants to see this sport become universally respected as a legitimate enterprise should be publicly against cheating in all of its forms. Especially the athletes themselves, who this issue actually affects directly.
So we hereby drop the CagePotato Ban on MMA fighters saying they don’t care if their opponents are doping. Steroids and other performance enhancing drugs have become a potential sport-killer, and honestly, you’re not helping.
(“Dear God, please let the lab lose my sample.” / Photo via MMAJunkie)
Recent flyweight title challenger Ali Bagautinov has been suspended for one year following a positive test for erythropoietin (EPO), a unapproved hormone that increases red blood cell production. (See also: Lance Armstrong, Chael Sonnen.) The British Columbia Athletic Commission on Thursday confirmed the news today.
Bagautinov failed a random drug test that was administered on June 2nd, 12 days before his unanimous decision loss to Demetrious Johnson at UFC 174 in Vancouver. As BCAC Commissioner Dave Maedel explained (via MMAJunkie):
“These results were not available prior to the UFC 174 event due to lab processing times…I have suspended Mr. Bagautinov’s licence to compete in British Columbia for a period of one year.”
So not only was UFC 174 the poorest-selling PPV in nine years, it also produced one more victim of MMA’s newest supervillain — the random drug-test. Seriously, increased drug testing is wiping out high-profile fighters left and right lately, which tells you all you need to know about how widespread the doping problem is in this sport. Keep fighting the good fight, athletic commissions.
(“Dear God, please let the lab lose my sample.” / Photo via MMAJunkie)
Recent flyweight title challenger Ali Bagautinov has been suspended for one year following a positive test for erythropoietin (EPO), a unapproved hormone that increases red blood cell production. (See also: Lance Armstrong, Chael Sonnen.) The British Columbia Athletic Commission on Thursday confirmed the news today.
Bagautinov failed a random drug test that was administered on June 2nd, 12 days before his unanimous decision loss to Demetrious Johnson at UFC 174 in Vancouver. As BCAC Commissioner Dave Maedel explained (via MMAJunkie):
“These results were not available prior to the UFC 174 event due to lab processing times…I have suspended Mr. Bagautinov’s licence to compete in British Columbia for a period of one year.”
So not only was UFC 174 the poorest-selling PPV in nine years, it also produced one more victim of MMA’s newest supervillain — the random drug-test. Seriously, increased drug testing is wiping out high-profile fighters left and right lately, which tells you all you need to know about how widespread the doping problem is in this sport. Keep fighting the good fight, athletic commissions.
