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.
(Cung Le in November 2011, and Cung Le in August 2014. The only thing that hasn’t changed is his underwear.)
Over the weekend, UFC middleweight Cung Leposted a photo of himself flexing after an intense workout — and immediately raised the suspicions of armchair endocrinologists around the globe. Despite his athletic gifts, Le hasn’t always been the leanest or most muscular fighter out there; in fact, he’s looked rather soft at times, relatively speaking. But now, at the age of 42, he’s showing up looking this jacked? In a sport where aging veterans are getting popped for PEDs left and right, MMA fans were understandably dubious.
In an apparent response to the accusations being flung at Le, the UFC has announced that Cung Le and his opponent Michael Bisping will undergo enhanced drug testing for their UFC Fight Night 48 headlining bout this Saturday in Macau. The testing will be performed at the UFC’s expense, and will include blood-testing, which would theoretically identify non-steroid PEDs like human growth hormone (HGH) and recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO).
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. (I kind of agree with Mark Bocek here; 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.)
But it might be a moot point in this case, because Cung Le doesn’t plan on failing a drug test anytime soon…
(Cung Le in November 2011, and Cung Le in August 2014. The only thing that hasn’t changed is his underwear.)
Over the weekend, UFC middleweight Cung Leposted a photo of himself flexing after an intense workout — and immediately raised the suspicions of armchair endocrinologists around the globe. Despite his athletic gifts, Le hasn’t always been the leanest or most muscular fighter out there; in fact, he’s looked rather soft at times, relatively speaking. But now, at the age of 42, he’s showing up looking this jacked? In a sport where aging veterans are getting popped for PEDs left and right, MMA fans were understandably dubious.
In an apparent response to the accusations being flung at Le, the UFC has announced that Cung Le and his opponent Michael Bisping will undergo enhanced drug testing for their UFC Fight Night 48 headlining bout this Saturday in Macau. The testing will be performed at the UFC’s expense, and will include blood-testing, which would theoretically identify non-steroid PEDs like human growth hormone (HGH) and recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO).
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. (I kind of agree with Mark Bocek here; 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.)
But it might be a moot point in this case, because Cung Le doesn’t plan on failing a drug test anytime soon. When asked about the photo by an MMAJunkie reporter, Le went on a four-minute rant explaining why he looked so rocked in the now-infamous photo, and why he didn’t look so hot in the past. Instead of transcribing the whole damn thing, here’s the short version…
– Cung says he doesn’t look like that all the time; the photo was just the result of good lighting and a hard-ass workout where he sweated out six-and-a-half pounds. That being said, he has good genetics, as evidenced by his old photos.
– It’s unfair to judge him by the softer physique he sported during his previous UFC fights. He had a cracked rib coming into his bout against Wanderlei Silva, and an injured foot coming into the Rich Franklin fight, both of which prevented him from training hard and led to the over-consumption of chocolate. Since then, he’s hired a nutritionist for the first time in his career.
– He’s naturally veiny. And compared to Luke Rockhold or even Michael Bisping, he’s tiny. “I’m just lean…so, get over it!”
“It was something me and my management team asked for several months ago,” Jones said. “We thought it would be great to make sure everyone was playing fair in this fight. I’m not accusing my opponent of anything, but it’d just be great to see. [The Maryland State Athletic Commission] said they would need the UFC to approve it, the UFC approved it and paid for the whole thing and they never told me or Glover when our tests would come…
“I just think it’d be great to know that the athletes that are competing are competing clean,” Jones said. “I’ve never taken any kind of performance-enhancing drug and I don’t think any of my opponents should. I know that I’ve probably fought people in the past that have, and I’ve still come up with a way to win, but I just think it’s important that it goes away.
“I want our sport to be a clean sport. I want athletes to have pride and hard work and that’s why I thought I would put my money where my mouth is and get the test for myself. I have no right to accuse [Teixeira] of being on anything,” Jones said. “I know when people get chances to fight for world titles maybe they’ll do anything to get an edge, and I think the only edge you should have is work ethic so I thought we should both get tested.”
Now, in a follow-up interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Jones explained what really motivated him to request enhanced testing for this fight, and it has nothing to do with any lofty goals of cleaning up the sport. Basically, Glover Teixeira is 34 years old, he’s strong as an ox, and Jones finds that kind of suspicious:
(Jones is so committed to clean competition that he carries a bottle of fresh, hot urine with him at all times. / Photo via Getty)
“It was something me and my management team asked for several months ago,” Jones said. “We thought it would be great to make sure everyone was playing fair in this fight. I’m not accusing my opponent of anything, but it’d just be great to see. [The Maryland State Athletic Commission] said they would need the UFC to approve it, the UFC approved it and paid for the whole thing and they never told me or Glover when our tests would come…
“I just think it’d be great to know that the athletes that are competing are competing clean,” Jones said. “I’ve never taken any kind of performance-enhancing drug and I don’t think any of my opponents should. I know that I’ve probably fought people in the past that have, and I’ve still come up with a way to win, but I just think it’s important that it goes away.
“I want our sport to be a clean sport. I want athletes to have pride and hard work and that’s why I thought I would put my money where my mouth is and get the test for myself. I have no right to accuse [Teixeira] of being on anything,” Jones said. “I know when people get chances to fight for world titles maybe they’ll do anything to get an edge, and I think the only edge you should have is work ethic so I thought we should both get tested.”
Now, in a follow-up interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Jones explained what really motivated him to request enhanced testing for this fight, and it has nothing to do with any lofty goals of cleaning up the sport. Basically, Glover Teixeira is 34 years old, he’s strong as an ox, and Jones finds that kind of suspicious:
“I just thought I would have Glover tested because he’s not the youngest fighter and everyone raves about how strong he is.”
“Some fighters, you just know they’re not on anything just by looking at them. Part of (Teixeira’s) mystique is his amazing physical strength and I just questioned it. I have no reason to think he’s on steroids but I do wonder how someone can be so strong.”
“I called Dana White and said, ‘Hey, I want Glover to take steroid tests for this fight,’” Jones said. “He asked me, “What, you think he’s on steroids?’ I told him I don’t know and I have no reason to accuse him of anything but I would like to be sure.”
“Dana told me how the Georges and Johny Hendricks thing became one big cluster because Georges wanted Johny to be tested by a certain company. He recommended I not go that way and talk to the commission directly so I said, ‘OK.’ ”
Alright, so maybe this isn’t going to help his narc reputation, but if Jones wants to use his pull as champion to demand additional drug testing for title fights, how is that a bad thing? Along with the recent ban on TRT and Dana White’s claim that all UFC fighters will be drug tested on fight cards going forward, the environment for PED users is growing more hostile. Baby steps, people.
The question now, is: What happens if Teixeira tests dirty for something and has to be pulled from the card on a week’s notice? Would you draft Phil Davis into the main event, or just cancel this thing altogether?
![Ramsey Nijem Destroys Beneil Dariush at Fight Night Abu Dhabi [GIF]](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZEqrK33mNA/U0gyaRiW04I/AAAAAAABCgk/uystylqqd8E/s1600/Beneil+Dariush+vs.+Ramsey+Nijem.gif){kind=link}