(Can we go back to those innocent, joyful days when you didn’t give a damn about your favorite fighter’s T/E ratio? / Photo via MMAWeekly)
By Jon Mariani
Drugs are bad, m’kay? At least that’s the conventional wisdom regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs in mixed martial arts. For the past 12 years, state athletic commissions as well as the UFC have tried to combat steroid use (and hormone therapy abuse) through pre- and post-fight testing, and punitive measures like suspensions and fines.
Some would argue that commissions and promoters should go even further with their anti-PED efforts, enacting more stringent testing for athletes. We say, what’s the point? Why burn so much money and man-hours trying to eradicate a problem that can never be eradicated? Ultimately, it might be better for the sport if all MMA fighters were allowed to use PEDs. Seriously. Here’s why that might not be the worst idea in the world…
It Would Level the Playing Field
When asked what percentage of fighters in MMA currently use PEDs, the most conservative response is usually around 50% of fighters; on the other side of the spectrum, estimates from fighters themselves go as as high as 90%. If those numbers are to be trusted, that would mean the majority of fighters currently use PEDs. It makes sense that so many fighters are using considering how poor the current testing is.
The fighters who don’t use PEDs face a clear disadvantage when they step into the cage against opponents who do. There’s also the murky waters of testosterone replacement therapy hall passes, which are being given away like candy. Legalizing PEDs would mean that all fighters could use, which would mean fighters who would like to use but currently don’t because it’s illegal would get on the gear. For the first time since athletic commissions began drug-testing MMA fighters, competition would be truly fair.
(Can we go back to those innocent, joyful days when you didn’t give a damn about your favorite fighter’s T/E ratio? / Photo via MMAWeekly)
By Jon Mariani
Drugs are bad, m’kay? At least that’s the conventional wisdom regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs in mixed martial arts. For the past 12 years, state athletic commissions as well as the UFC have tried to combat steroid use (and hormone therapy abuse) through pre- and post-fight testing, and punitive measures like suspensions and fines.
Some would argue that commissions and promoters should go even further with their anti-PED efforts, enacting more stringent testing for athletes. We say, what’s the point? Why burn so much money and man-hours trying to eradicate a problem that can never be eradicated? Ultimately, it might be better for the sport if all MMA fighters were allowed to use PEDs. Seriously. Here’s why that might not be the worst idea in the world…
It Would Level the Playing Field
When asked what percentage of fighters in MMA currently use PEDs, the most conservative response is usually around 50% of fighters; on the other side of the spectrum, estimates from fighters themselves go as as high as 90%. If those numbers are to be trusted, that would mean the majority of fighters currently use PEDs. It makes sense that so many fighters are using considering how poor the current testing is.
The fighters who don’t use PEDs face a clear disadvantage when they step into the cage against opponents who do. There’s also the murky waters of testosterone replacement therapy hall passes, which are being given away like candy. Legalizing PEDs would mean that all fighters could use, which would mean fighters who would like to use but currently don’t because it’s illegal would get on the gear. For the first time since athletic commissions began drug-testing MMA fighters, competition would be truly fair.
Prohibition Does Not Work
First we can look at the alcohol prohibition enacted in the 1920s and discern what an utter failure it was. Then we can look the current ‘War on drugs’ and see how well that is going. Drug prohibition has never worked and may never work, so wouldn’t a better option be to turn to regulation?
Alex Rodriguez was recently busted in the Biogenesis scandal. But was it because he failed a drug test? No. Despite enhancing their testing methods, the MLB was unable to catch A-Rod cheating. The situation came to light only because Dr. Pedro Bosch, the medical director of Biogenesis of America, agreed to work with MLB investigators.
The occasional high-profile steroid busts in MMA only scratch the surface of what’s happening in terms of PED usage among fighters, and athletic commissions simply don’t have the firepower to do anything about it. Let’s stop pretending that it’s a problem we can fix, and start facing reality.
Fans Simply Do Not Care
The revitalization of Vitor Belfort‘s career was one of the best stories of 2013. With three consecutive head-kick knockouts of increasingly decorated opponents, The Phenom truly lived up to his nickname. Whether or not he receives a therapeutic use exemption for his fight with Chris Weidman in July, the event will likely sell out and produce a significant amount of pay-per-view buys. The reason the numbers will not be affected by Belfort’s testosterone use, is because most casual fans don’t care if fighters are on PEDs. In fact, in this day and age most people expect fighters to be on something.
If you frequent any MMA forum, you will likely find members who either defend PED usage, or are simply indifferent to the issue. Most people want their favorite fighters to fight often and produce spectacular violence. If using PEDs allows athletes to train longer, recover faster, and increase their power, isn’t that exactly what we want? Don’t we want our favorite fighters to have long careers, so they can compete at an advanced age with all their skills and experience intact? If a relatively few amount of observers have an issue with PED use and fans are able to reap the benefits of athletes using them, where exactly is the problem?
If you follow baseball, you may already be aware of the ongoing Biogenesis scandal. In short, an ex-employee of a Miami-based steroid clinic leaked hundreds of pages of documents from the clinic to the Miami New Times earlier this year, identifying several big-name MLB players as clients. The Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun has already been suspended for the rest of this season, and A-Rod’s suspension is imminent. Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), Biogenesis’s shady operation wasn’t limited to baseball. From a new ESPN report:
The man who turned the Biogenesis clinic from a quiet investigation in Miami into a national scandal says there are at least a dozen more athletes whose names haven’t been exposed and that they come from across the sports world.
Porter Fischer, the former Biogenesis of Miami clinic employee who turned boxes of documents over to the Miami New Times last year, declined to name the athletes. But in his first television interview, Fischer told “Outside the Lines” that numerous sports had at least one athlete who received performance-enhancing drugs from clinic founder Tony Bosch.
“This isn’t a 2013 thing or a 2012 thing; some of these people have been on the books since 2009,” Fischer said.
Fischer said he and associates have identified athletes from the NBA, NCAA, professional boxing, tennis and MMA, in addition to other professional baseball players who have not yet been identified. As far as he knows, Fischer said, Bosch had no clients from the NFL or NHL…
If you follow baseball, you may already be aware of the ongoing Biogenesis scandal. In short, an ex-employee of a Miami-based steroid clinic leaked hundreds of pages of documents from the clinic to the Miami New Times earlier this year, identifying several big-name MLB players as clients. The Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun has already been suspended for the rest of this season, and A-Rod’s suspension is imminent. Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), Biogenesis’s shady operation wasn’t limited to baseball. From a new ESPN report:
The man who turned the Biogenesis clinic from a quiet investigation in Miami into a national scandal says there are at least a dozen more athletes whose names haven’t been exposed and that they come from across the sports world.
Porter Fischer, the former Biogenesis of Miami clinic employee who turned boxes of documents over to the Miami New Times last year, declined to name the athletes. But in his first television interview, Fischer told “Outside the Lines” that numerous sports had at least one athlete who received performance-enhancing drugs from clinic founder Tony Bosch.
“This isn’t a 2013 thing or a 2012 thing; some of these people have been on the books since 2009,” Fischer said.
Fischer said he and associates have identified athletes from the NBA, NCAA, professional boxing, tennis and MMA, in addition to other professional baseball players who have not yet been identified. As far as he knows, Fischer said, Bosch had no clients from the NFL or NHL…
The athletes not yet publicly named come from the documents Fischer took from the clinic, documents he said another employee asked him to take for safekeeping. The number of athletes involved with the clinic, based on what he saw and heard during his time with Biogenesis, is far more than people realize, he said.
“In just the four years that I know, it’s got to be well over a hundred, easy,” he said. “It’s almost scary to think about how many people have gone through [Bosch’s treatments] and how long he’s gotten away with this.”
Bosch has been cooperating with MLB for more than a month, providing what sources have said are extensive records of his connection to 20 to 25 players.
Speaking purely speculatively, I doubt that anyone involved with a high end, designer drug outfit like Biogenesis is some low or mid-card dwelling fringe UFC talent. The costs involved here are likely so high that it would seem likely that anyone involved would be much more high profile than that.
So…Miami-based clinic. High-profile MMA fighters with money to spend. Hmm. To avoid another unnecessary lawsuit, we’re not going to connect the dots for you, but there are a few fighters who immediately come to mind. We’ll update you when these fighters are named. And if that happens, the UFC will get the most unwelcome kind of mainstream media attention. Brace yourselves for the incoming shitstorm.
It’s been nearly two months since Vitor Belfort landed the head kick on Michael Bisping that brought their fight at UFC on FX 7 to a close, but the animosity between the two continues to boil.The build-up to the fight saw the two middleweights in heate…
It’s been nearly two months since Vitor Belfort landed the head kick on Michael Bisping that brought their fight at UFC on FX 7 to a close, but the animosity between the two continues to boil.
The build-up to the fight saw the two middleweights in heated exchanges. But what has unraveled in the aftermath of their tilt has brought an interesting wrinkle in the situation to light.
Following the card in Brazil, it was revealed “The Phenom” had been granted a therapeutic-use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy leading up to his bout against Bisping. While “The Count” initially released a statement on his website making no excuses for the fight, the issue of Belfort’s testosterone usage in their bout is a “hot button” issue with the former TUF winner.
Fighters being granted exemptions for testosterone usage is becoming increasingly common in the world of mixed martial arts.
But what makes the 35-year-old Brazilian’s circumstance unique is that he had previously tested positive for steroid use in 2006, following his bout with Dan Henderson under the Pride Banner.
Most commissions operating inside the United States hold strict guidelines for fighters who have previously tested positive for banned substances being granted exemptions for testosterone usage. In Nevada, where Belfort failed his test in 2006, the commission operates under these rules and Keith Kizer, head of NSAC, recently spoke to Bleacher Report’s Damon Martin about the issue. Kizer stated:
I don’t see Vitor Belfort getting a TRT exemption from us. I really don’t and I feel kind of bad for him in some ways because if he has learned from his mistakes and now he’s trying to do it the right way and his levels are low with the treatment good for him and I hope he is doing that.
The rules are the rules and you have to draw the line somewhere.
But what exactly does this mean? If Kizer is saying Belfort can’t be approved in Nevada, a state where the UFC is based and frequently puts on high-profile cards, but the MMA legend is approved for usage in Brazil, does this mean Belfort is competing outside of the United States where his testosterone usage will still play?
While this hasn’t necessarily been proven to be the case, the dialogue surrounding the situation has continued. After Belfort posted a tweet aimed at Bisping today on Twitter, the outspoken Brit responded in kind (the tweet has since been deleted), suggesting he would like a rematch in Las Vegas, where Belfort would most likely not receive an exemption to use testosterone.
It would appear on some levels that Belfort competing in Brazil, where he will continued to be granted exemptions, is his way of staying outside the lines of the issue.
There is reason to believe otherwise of course, but with his next bout against Luke Rockhold at UFC on FX 8 once again taking place in Brazil, the conversation will remain on the table.
Following the bout becoming official, Rockhold spoke to Bleacher Report regarding the potential of Belfort using testosterone for their upcoming fight in May.
I think the TRT thing should be out in the open before fights and not after they end. I was also under the belief that if you’ve been caught with performance enhancing drugs in the past, there was no option for TRT…but ultimately it doesn’t matter to me.
I saw Ben Henderson’s statement about TRT and PEDs being a weakness and I feel the exact same way. I don’t really care. I’m going out there and I’m going to do what I do. I’m going to beat people whether they are on it or they are clean. I’m a clean fighter and I’m going to go out there and I am going to do my job. It doesn’t matter to me. Honestly I get more satisfaction beating people who are on the stuff.
The statement from Henderson that Rockhold is referring to came when the UFC lightweight champion shared his thoughts on the matter with Five Knuckles:
My thing with the whole steroid thing and whatnot — like, I understand part of a competitors nature is to take whatever edge, whatever advantage you can get to be the best. To that I just say if I’m facing a person – it happened in college wrestling, sadly it shouldn’t, but it happened in college wrestling, people on steroids and whatnot. But if I know someone is mentally weak enough to take steroids, ‘Oh, I need the extra edge, I need to do this’, and they know it’s illegal, they know it’s wrong and they do it.
If you’re so mentally weak that you have to take steroids, me, five-rounds in the cage with you? I will destroy you. Cause you are mentally weak. So I’m all for it, if you want to take drugs go ahead and take drugs. I don’t really care, but I’m going to whoop your butt because you are mentally weak and that’s where you win fights is in the mental stage. If you’re weak enough to break down, I’m going to kill you.
Henderson expanded his stance during a recent interview with MMA Fighting where he advocated the implementation of blood and random testing throughout the sport. “Bendo’s” statement came on the heels of UFC President Dana White‘s recent public stance on the matter.
In the post-fight press conference for UFC on Fuel TV 7, White told the media in London that the UFC was going to “test the sh**” out of fighters being granted exemptions, in order to make sure their levels were within legal boundaries in and out of fight camps.
It was an “about face” for White as he finally appeared to be taking the issue of testosterone usage to task—an issue which has continued to make headlines over the past year. Shortly after White made statements on the matter, noted TUE recipient Chael Sonnen spoke about the matter during his broadcasting role on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight. The mercurial fighter told the show’s audience:
The testing has already started. I can tell you first-hand, I have already been tested since this announcement.
While White and Henderson are the two most recent figures to speak out on the matter, they certainly aren’t the first to bring the issue front and center
During his time as coach on Season 16 of The Ultimate Fighter, hammer-handed heavyweight Roy Nelson continuously spoke out on the PED in mixed martial arts. “Big Country” has invited all of his opponents and other fighters in the UFC fold to take place in VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency) testing to ensure everyone he faces inside the Octagon is competing on a level playing field.
It’s Nelson’s belief that everyone who steps inside the cage should be competing with their natural talents. And with his comments during a recent visit to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour, it doesn’t look like the Las Vegas native will be backing down any time soon.
Personal Thoughts on the Matter
As fighters continue to speak out on the issue and the UFC begins to implement stricter testing, there is a chance the issue plaguing MMA will finally get wrangled under control. That being said, difficulties in the matter remain, and with fighters knowing they have a certain date to “get clean” or bring their levels into normal ranges, there are certainly windows to keep using PEDs.
It is my belief that not only should random testing implemented, but to a more severe degree. If a fighter is currently under contract with the UFC, fight scheduled or not, they should be subjected to testing at the whim of the organization. The promotion should be able to drop in at any time to make a fighter test, and if this were the case, I believe change would come.
If a fighter knew that at any time, someone from the UFC could swing by their gym and test them, it would be hard to imagine this culture not shifting. For those working in the industry, a fighter’s training schedule isn’t a difficult thing to obtain. If the UFC sent a team in to drug test randomly selected fighters, it would send a strong message to athletes competing in the sport.
By doing so, it would create the one key factor that is missing in this entire process…surprise.
Of course, some fighters know when they are going to be tested and still end up failing. But if a fighter had no idea when the test could occur, it would create an environment of suspense.
The debate on whether TRT is a PED will continue on, but the one thing White and Co. can agree on is the issue needs to be brought under control. It is going to take some aggressive moves for the UFC to police its large roster of fighters, but with all the hard work the UFC machine has put into becoming the most successful organization in mixed martial arts, I can’t imagine them pulling up short on this one.
It will only be a matter of time before some method is found to test the fighters effectively. I simply hope it comes sooner than later.
If professional MMA has a problem with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), only a few fighters are willing to speak openly about it. On the front lines against PEDs, the fighters themselves are the ones that could help clean up the sport. It&rsqu…
If professional MMA has a problem with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), only a few fighters are willing to speak openly about it.
On the front lines against PEDs, the fighters themselves are the ones that could help clean up the sport.
It’s easy to deny and shrug aside, but there are some problems that need to be handled promptly and efficiently by the UFC and athletic commissions. However, a select few MMA fighters have taken it upon themselves to demand additional testing and speak out against PED use from fellow fighters.
UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos has been very vocal about PEDs, especially after a heavyweight super fight with Alistair Overeem fell through. Overeem failed a drug test and was found with a whopping 14-1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio—so he lost his chance to compete for the heavyweight championship, for now.
If a fight between Dos Santos and Overeem is to occur in the future, the current heavyweight champion hopes Overeem agrees to a blood test beforehand.
“Using drugs is completely unnecessary, and I am the living proof. I’m the champion, and I never used any kind of forbidden substances. Fighting a guy that uses these kinds of drugs is completely unfair and useless. With or without any kind of authorization [for using testosterone], the fighter who uses those substances is never fighting with his own skills. He is enhancing his power with those drugs.”
Meanwhile, Overeem, the Dutchman who managed to eliminate himself out of a title shot against Dos Santos, is willing to take random and supervised drug tests at least once per month (via MMAJunkie.com).
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) is making a bigger splash in MMA, with BJ Penn also requesting testing via his Twitter account prior to his upcoming welterweight fight against Rory MacDonald. If the UFC doesn’t want VADA to be involved, I think it’s time for them to increase pressure on the athletic commissions.
However, if the UFC is truly concerned about PEDs in MMA, it’s time for an internal drug testing program to be created as well. In addition to VADA, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) can be called upon for assistance in creating a method to help prevent further drug use.
“We’re going to do our own testing, order these guys into (a lab); we’re sorting it out now. You have to do this to save the sport. You can’t have these guys fighting on this stuff.”
It’s good to hear White stepping up and acknowledging the UFC has something in development, even if we’re likely a long distance before it is implemented. It’s not good business when a handful of fighters believe the UFC and athletic commissions aren’t doing enough.
The PED debate clearly isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, and I think it’s good to see fighters speaking out about the issue. It looks like it’s up to the fighters to ask for additional testing before fights, a trend that won’t go away anytime soon.
Some of the biggest names in MMA—past and present—have tested positive for various PED use, including UFC legend Royce Gracie, heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett (multiple times), middleweight Vitor Belfort, Stephan Bonnar, Phil Baroni, Sean Sherk, Antonio Silva, Rafael Cavalcante, Muhammed Lawal and Chael Sonnen.
Similar to Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, many fighters plead ignorance against direct knowledge of use, blaming tainted supplements, coaches and trainers. Clean fighters speaking out against PEDs will hopefully lead to a reduction in the excuses offered by busted competitors.
Only time will tell what happens in the fight against PEDs within the UFC and MMA as a whole, but progress is slowly being made.
At this point, everything that Jon Jones has to say about his rivalry with Rashad Evans has been said (and said, and said). But with less than a week remaining until their looooong-awaited showdown, we wanted to get a better sense of Bones’s mindset heading into his third light-heavyweight belt-defense at UFC 145. CagePotato video-correspondent Sal Mora spent a few minutes with the champ at his Jackson’s MMA homebase in Albuquerque for an exclusive fight-week interview that you can watch after the jump. Some highlights…
– On the possibility of a reconciliation with Evans after the fight: “I honestly don’t know what will go on after the fight, but I really don’t have any interest in becoming friends with Rashad again. I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to do a job.”
– On moving to heavyweight: “I did ask Dana White, ‘Can I get a fight at heavyweight at the end of this year?’ and he told me that he didn’t think that was best for me right now. I’m totally okay with where I’m at and competing at the light-heavyweight division. I think there’s a lot of great competition left…I’m sure guys like Lyoto [Machida] are gonna be coming back around for their rematches too, so everything’s going according to plan.”
At this point, everything that Jon Jones has to say about his rivalry with Rashad Evans has been said (and said, and said). But with less than a week remaining until their looooong-awaited showdown, we wanted to get a better sense of Bones’s mindset heading into his third light-heavyweight belt-defense at UFC 145. CagePotato video-correspondent Sal Mora spent a few minutes with the champ at his Jackson’s MMA homebase in Albuquerque for an exclusive fight-week interview that you can watch after the jump. Some highlights…
– On the possibility of a reconciliation with Evans after the fight: ”I honestly don’t know what will go on after the fight, but I really don’t have any interest in becoming friends with Rashad again. I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to do a job.”
– On moving to heavyweight: “I did ask Dana White, ‘Can I get a fight at heavyweight at the end of this year?’ and he told me that he didn’t think that was best for me right now. I’m totally okay with where I’m at and competing at the light-heavyweight division. I think there’s a lot of great competition left…I’m sure guys like Lyoto [Machida] are gonna be coming back around for their rematches too, so everything’s going according to plan.”
– On Alistair Overeem and the performance-enhancing drug crisis in MMA: “I’ve never seen anyone here at Jackson’s MMA participate in any type of steroid use. I don’t know anybody on our team that could possibly be taking steroids. And as far as Alistair Overeem, that’s really his problem. Steroids is unfortunately a part of all sports and he was just the one that got caught…It’s really not my world, I’ll compete against someone on steroids any day. I believe in some cases that people who abuse steroids have weakness in their hearts, you know, they don’t believe in working hard. I’m not against steroids, I think in some cases you need steroids, like if you’re an older gentlemen, or you have some type of illness or something like that, but when an athlete abuses it, I mean that’s their business.”
– On where he’ll be in five years: ”I see myself continuing to work hard, continuing to try to strive to solidify a place in the history books of the sport.”
Matt Serra, and his bucket of rigatoni, make their way to the cage.
Earlier this week UFC fighter Krzysztof Soszynskimade the bold statement that the vast majority of MMA fighters—somewhere between 85-96%–are getting some sort of illegal chemical boost in the training room. Yesterday a bigger, more easily-spelled name in the sport spoke out in support of those allegations. In an interview with MMA Weekly, Matt Serra weighed in on what he considers to be a serious problem in the fight game.
“It’s wrong man, it’s really wrong. Let me tell you something. I got to the title without doing anything. I didn’t use anything,” Serra commented. “Me and BJ Penn are in that small percentage that don’t do (expletive). There’s a lot of guys that are considered legends, and they’re doing the GH and doing this and that, and it’s obvious, it’s freaking obvious.”
Matt Serra, and his bucket of rigatoni, make their way to the cage.
Earlier this week UFC fighter Krzysztof Soszynskimade the bold statement that the vast majority of MMA fighters—somewhere between 85-96%–are getting some sort of illegal chemical boost in the training room. Yesterday a bigger, more easily-spelled name in the sport spoke out in support of those allegations. In an interview with MMA Weekly, Matt Serra weighed in on what he considers to be a serious problem in the fight game.
“It’s wrong man, it’s really wrong. Let me tell you something. I got to the title without doing anything. I didn’t use anything,” Serra commented. “Me and BJ Penn are in that small percentage that don’t do (expletive). There’s a lot of guys that are considered legends, and they’re doing the GH and doing this and that, and it’s obvious, it’s freaking obvious.”
The past year has proven to be an eye-opener in terms of the blight of performance enhancing drugs in Mixed Martial Arts. Unapproved or improperly applied Testorone Replacement Therapy and fake dongs have brought the problem to light, and while neither Soszynski nor Serra cite any specifics in their findings, they have very little motivation to share an opinion that will undoubtedly prove unpopular with the Zuffa brass. As more fighters come out to address the issue it will be harder to ignore, and with the UFC’s jump to “mainstream” television, they can expect more “mainstream” scrutiny. As it stands now, many MMA-specific journalists are too concerned with being denied behind-the-scenes access to ask the tough questions. Us? We don’t really have those concerns, and it’s doubtful that more seasoned members of the media will be intimidated from covering the subject.
Beyond violating a certain expectation of fair play that we’d all like to believe was held sacred in professional sports, Serra is concerned that the augmented strength and stamina of some fighters could lead to grave injury inside of the cage.
“It’s one thing if you’re fighting for an hour, but you got 15 minutes in there. There’s certain teams out there that look like they got a freaking chemist assigned to them. It’s not that I want to judge anybody, but hey man, I’m fighting these people. Next thing you know you’re in there fighting a guy with unlimited energy that looks like a He-Man figure. I don’t give a (expletive) if it’s happening in baseball, but when a guy can kick your head off, someone can get hurt. There’s a chance for serious bodily harm.”
It’s impossible to predict when the next scandal will unfold, especially since a positive test by an up and comer rarely makes a blip on the news radar. But we know that there will be more fighters getting popped; the only question is what consequences they will face as a result.
It’s been nearly two months since Vitor Belfort landed the head kick on Michael Bisping that brought their fight at UFC on FX 7 to a close, but the animosity between the two continues to boil.
