It seems that more fighters are getting caught with drugs these days than ever. It’s not like they are being thoroughly punished; the fines are weak, the suspensions are short, and the short-term positives seem to outweigh the negatives. Why should anyone stop attempting to cheat a little to get bigger and better?
The major organizations are still bringing back the guys who have cheated in the past. Stephan Bonnar, busted last August for using illegal steroids, is back in UFC 73. Josh Barnett was caught using drugs in the UFC in 2002 and he continued to fight more than a dozen more opponents afterwards, mostly in the Pride organization in Japan. Tim Sylvia was stripped of his heavyweight title when he tested positive for an anabolic steroid during his fight in UFC 44 in 2003. Similar to others who were busted, Sylvia was given numerous other chances to reclaim his title as the Heavyweight Champion.
So why is everyone being given a second chance? When will an example be made? Some may say that Nick Diaz was the unlucky one who got cheated out of his win against Takanori Gomi earlier this year when he tested positive for marijuana. While a recreation drug like marijuana may help you absorb some pain, if at all, it certainly doesn’t quite give you the same effects as an anabolic steroid, which, if used properly, will stimulate extra muscle growth. This extra muscle growth is what may be temporarily helping and permanently hurting these fighters.
Why wasn’t the example made back in 2002 with Josh Barnett? UFC, Pride, and other organizations are doing little to stop the use of fighters using illegal drugs. It’s only weeks or months later when we learn that the State Athletic Commissions are coming back with news that fighters are testing positive for extremely high amounts of testosterone. Again, we can refer back to Dana White going ballistic when two of his lightweights on The Ultimate Fighter 5 were making the sport look bad; by street-fighting. White claimed that they went against everything he worked for in the past few years to make MMA a illegitimate sport. It certainly doesn’t look like a legitimate sport when White and others allow their fighters to continue making thousands of dollars per fight while they are using illegal substances. What’s the difference? Street-fighters and MMA fighters can both make bad decisions. Mixed martial arts fighting is a sport. This isn’t entertainment; this isn’t the WWE. If this sport wants to be taken seriously, it’s up to the fighters to stop temporarily acting in their own best interests and realize that using drugs is not taking anyone in the right direction.
If the organizations, the State Athletic Commissions, the fighters, and the fans want this to end now, there needs to be a warning in place. Anyone found using steroids will be banned from the sport. It this doesn’t stop the illegal activity, removing those fighters who have no respect for the sport definitely will.
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