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« | Home | »

MMA steroid articles

By Zach Arnold | July 20, 2007

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By Zach Arnold

I want to point out two new articles today that I think you should read online in regards to the steroids problem in Mixed Martial Arts.

First, here is part one of my MMA drug culture article series on CBS Sportsline. (Article here, printable view here).

Please read the Sportsline article first.

Second, there’s an open-letter to Dana White at Sherdog. View that article here.

Colin Cowherd talked on his radio show today about the different levels of steroids abuse in sports (including wrestling). Audio here. Mauro Ranallo is not happy with all the doping going on in MMA. Audio here. Lance Storm is angry about cable news coverage.

For anyone who doesn’t think that there are drug problems outside of UFC in MMA, you’ll find out differently in the Sportsline article. There is an allegation in the Sportsline article from an individual that agreed to go on-the-record that DSE had a doctor who gave a fighter painkillers. Sportsline spent a full week in communication with DSE lawyers and an official to get comment. No comment was ever given.

Go to full-post mode to read my thoughts on the ‘open letter’ from Josh Gross to Dana White.

I have conflicting thoughts on the Josh Gross ‘open letter’ to Dana White. Listen, I’m not going to deny that there’s major heat between both parties and that Dana has reportedly help exacerbate it. No denying that.

However, I found the Gross letter to be completely self-serving and contributing absolutely nothing whatsoever to the discussion of steroids in MMA. My biggest complaint with the open letter is that it basically shifts the entire blame of MMA’s drug culture onto Dana White, as if MMA has the exact same problems as professional wrestling and Vince McMahon have. That’s not the case.

I like the idea of UFC hosting fighter symposiums to help fighters in regards to education on several topics. I like the fact that UFC isn’t afraid to publicly take a stand against their fighters when they fail a drug test. Do I wish that UFC would release the test results of their privately-administered drug tests in areas with no commission oversight? Sure, I would. Absolutely. However, to railroad against Dana White and basically call him out as the man who should responsible for cleaning up the steroid problem in MMA is ridiculous.

The steroid problem affects every single promoter in the MMA industry. Sherdog covered two events promoted by Pro Elite in June in which 5 guys got busted over two shows. Do we suddenly blame Gary Shaw for being a drug pusher because he had knucklehead fighters who got caught cheating?

The issue of cleaning up the drug problem in MMA is extremely difficult to take on. I spent a little over three weeks writing two articles on CBS Sportsline about MMA’s drug culture. While I learned quite a bit on some of the problems MMA is facing, I can safely say that it would take me years, if not decades to truly understand what the industry is currently facing and will be facing in the future. I couldn’t get a single fighter to go publicly on-the-record in the CBS Sportsline articles, let alone find fighters who want to admit that there was a drug problem in the industry. Placing the blame of MMA’s drug culture simply at the foot of a promoter is irresponsible and clueless.

Now, here’s where I think Gross was on the right track but going after the wrong target. They went after the wrong promoters. If he is so upset about the drug culture in MMA, then start going after the promoters who continually promote events in non-commission areas. Primarily, K-1 and PRIDE. In the Sportsline article, I had a powerful person in MMA claim that DSE (the parent company of PRIDE) had doctors who were giving at least one fighter painkillers in order to fight. Could you imagine the firestorm of controversy UFC would be facing if it was found out in the media that they had a personal doctor giving a fighter drugs? It would be insane.

However, I don’t expect Gross to go after anyone other than Dana White. He’s the easy target to attack. It’s an easy out for the MMA media to go after a guy labeled as a carnival barker when the drug culture in this industry is so much more complex to understand, let alone come up with solutions for.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 64 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

64 Responses to “MMA steroid articles”

  1. Jordan Breen says:

    Also, boxers getting painkiller shots before fights is nothing new.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    Josh Gross’s “article” was beyond horrible. He is trying to put the blame of steroids on Dana White. A few huge holes in that logic.

    1. Where was Gross when DSE had 4 suspensions in 2 events? Where was Gross when not one company running in Japan actually drug tests for steroids?

    2. Out of the large number of positives, how many are really in the UFC? Not a lot. For as many cards as the UFC puts on, their suspension level is still rather low.

    3. The UFC is the ONLY company out there that RUNS TO regulation. They are trying to get Texas to drug test. They are trying to get a commission in the UK up and running so they can drug test. They don’t run in states that don’t have regulation.

    4. Congress could care less about MMA. This isn’t pro wrestling. What makes rasslin such a big deal is that their testing is basically phoney. The UFC’s isn’t. Therefore, there is no scandal.

    5. I think we all saw Josh Gross’s true colors in that “article”. Sherdog himself is just as bad if not worse. Combine this and leaking the TUF4 results, and you can easily see why Dana White wants nothing to do with these guys. They are like a bunch of spoiled brats. It is pathetic.

    http://mma.tv/tuf/index.cfm?ac=ListMessages&PID=1&TID=1095964&FID=1

  3. The Gaijin says:

    If the UFC or any organization for that matter actually had more than 4 fighters tested per card I BET there’d be a lot more positive tests.

  4. Zurich says:

    Tito and Tim both got shots in their back so they could fight.. how is that different?

  5. Zach Arnold says:

    *sigh* Everyone is going to get caught up with the Sherdog article, when they should read the Sportsline article first — simply because the Sportsline article actually tries to break down some of the drug issues as opposed to get into a flame war.

  6. Zach Arnold says:

    OK, look at the quote from the article by Mijatovic:

    However, over my objections and due to repeated strong demands, threats and financial inducements by (former Pride president Nobuyuki) Sakakibara, the fighter was injected with pain killers by DSE doctors on the day of his fight and was able to make his way into the ring with the full knowledge of Pride officials that he should not even be walking.

    He’s claiming that DSE threatened his fighter if he did not take a painkiller. What would all of you be saying if UFC was accused to doing this?

  7. Jordan Breen says:

    Why was my first post deleted? Was me asking for Josh Gross’ opinion to be noted as different from the whole of Sherdog.com too much?

  8. 45 Huddle says:

    Here is the list, in order of fault, in which people should be blamed for steroids:

    1. The Fighters
    2. The Trainers
    3. Fighting Camps
    4. The Organizations who basically have no testing or almost no testing at all of their shows. (Like K-1)
    5. The Organizations who have testing at some of their shows. (Like the IFL)
    6. The Organizations who basically test at almost all of their shows and try to go to places that do test. (Like UFC)

    The way I see it, Dana White ain’t even Top 5. Hey, he ain’t perfect, but to point him out directly shows some deep seeded hatred from the people at Sherdog. And they are keeping that article at the top of the page too.

    Not to mention that if you read some of the stuff from the Underground, at the levels that Sherk tested at, there is a chance of him being a false positive. Who knows if that is true, but let this guy have his day in front of the CSAC before we verbally murder him. Franca is okay to, because the idiot admitted fault. Now, if Sherk gets up and says hey, I took it, but it was a while a ago… Then he is an idiot too.

    But as you can see, I am putting the fault at the fighters. Not Dana White, who’s company policy is only to run shows in the US that have athletic commissions. The same company who hired Marc Ratner to help get MMA legalized in every state. The same Ratner who shook his head at Texas for being idiots and not testing. The same Ratner who was told by lawyers not to test in England the first time around but did so the second time around.

    I just don’t see how these guys are to blame. The hatred coming from Gross & Sherwood amazes me. It KILLS THEM to see Zuffa as the big dog in town. And their little fan base of 20,000 hardcore fans is not enough to turn that around.

  9. Zach Arnold says:

    You could have e-mailed me to ask the change or, as you did, leave a comment. I made the change, so what was the point in leaving the comment up?

  10. Jordan Breen says:

    Also, even though there are a ton of other problems in the article, I struggle to read it the way some others do. Gross specifically states that it isn’t Dana’s fault, it’s the fighters. Even though there’s tons of unnecessary cheap shots, I think the point is pretty clear. Dana is MMA’s biggest promoter, and it behooves him as a person of such stature to try to correct the problem, whether or not it’s his fault (which it isn’t) and whether or not it’s just his problem (which it also isn’t).

  11. Jordan Breen says:

    “You could have e-mailed me to ask the change or, as you did, leave a comment. I made the change, so what was the point in leaving the comment up?”

    “Now, here’s where I think Sherdog was on the right track but going after the wrong target.”

    How is that changed? Sherdog.com didn’t write the article, and Josh Gross sure as hell doesn’t speak for me.

  12. Mike Schroeder says:

    I think that Gross may have made some valid comments. I don’t see the article as blaming Dana, so much as I see it challenging Dana to live up to the legacy and aura that he has created around himself. Dana wants to be seen as the savior of MMA. Gross is saying that here is a way to do it. I don’t see what is wrong with that.

  13. Zach Arnold says:

    I thought you were alluding to another portion of the article. It will be modified to reflect accuracy.

  14. Jordan Breen says:

    I was referring to the entire thing. Sherdog.com doesn’t have an opinion, you know? Josh Gross making fun of Dana White getting sponsors on Tito’s shorts doesn’t speak for me any more than Mike Sloan’s Monday Morning Reverie, you feel me?

    Also, am I the only person who doesn’t see the merit in symposiums like that? Hell, the NFL came up with them a few years ago for rookies, and the exact problems they try to educate on have only worsened millionfold.

  15. 45 Huddle says:

    Jordan,

    No offense, but that logic makes no sense. Why would Dana White want to fix a problem that isn’t his? What PRESIDENT of a company would waste his owner’s time by doing such a thing?

    Besides K-1 has the attendance record in America. And they are the biggest company over in Japan in terms of fans. Why not direct it towards them?

    I mean come on. Gross bashed White for going to Texas. Even Ratner bashed Texas for their behavior. Gross bashed the UFC for not drug testing at UFC 70. They intended to, but the lawyers told them not to at the last minutes. They did drug test the second time around, and if they don’t want to release it, they don’t have to. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL does tell people who they drug test and when. It is all kept secret. And the thing about Babalu is a joke as well. He committed not felony. If he read what happened to the guy, there should be no disciplinary actions on him.

    I like your podcast and your view points, but I think your friendship to these guys is clouding your vision.

    One last point and I will get off my soap box….

    It is easy to point fingers. But Gross doesn’t even offer one solution. How can he point fingers without saying: “Hey, this system would be better.”

    Everybody bashes the health care system, but until somebody can figure out a way to fix it without messing with the economy too much, the the rhetoric is pointless.

    I’m finished. I will let other’s say their words now.

  16. Jordan Breen says:

    “I like your podcast and your view points, but I think your friendship to these guys is clouding your vision.”

    These guys? What guys? Last time I checked, we were talking about one guy, Josh Gross. He runs spell check on my articles, and I think he’s a generally swell guy. It doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s wrong as shit sometimes, and if you didn’t read, I didn’t exactly speak glowingly about his open letter.

    “No offense, but that logic makes no sense. Why would Dana White want to fix a problem that isn’t his? What PRESIDENT of a company would waste his owner’s time by doing such a thing?”

    Dana says he saved MMA and got sanctioning, blah blah blah. Zuffa Myth 101. That stuff wasn’t ‘his problem’ either. He could’ve just taken the UFC to an Indian Reserve or whatever. If Dana loves the sport so much, why not go out of his way to ensure there’s some kind of reform? He sure doesn’t have to, and I personally won’t begrudge him should he choose not to, but I don’t think it’s the most absurd idea, either.

  17. JThue says:

    “But as you can see, I am putting the fault at the fighters. Not Dana White, who’s company policy is only to run shows in the US that have athletic commissions.”

    – Shaw and FEG also CHOSE to run their June shows in the only state that tests EVERYONE, yet you managed to shove those positive tests over on Pro Elite. Some balance here, please.

  18. 45 Huddle says:

    They ran K-1 Dyanamite due to the size of the stadium and the heavy korean population in LA. It had nothing to do with the commission. They fought that commission every step of the way.

    I don’t blame Gary Shaw. I have not seen him run from regulation to this point. He is about as much to blame for these steroid issues as Dana White is. Which means not much at all.

    I did say his shows had a jinx to them because of all the positive tests, but I wasn’t thinking about writing open letters to everybody about it.

    If Sherdog.com is the “ESPN of MMA”, then could you imagine the MAIN writer for a sport writing something like that on ESPN.com or even running that in a newspaper? Oh my lord….

  19. Jordan Breen says:

    “If Sherdog.com is the “ESPN of MMA”, then could you imagine the MAIN writer for a sport writing something like that on ESPN.com or even running that in a newspaper? Oh my lord….”

    If you take out the puerile jabs at Dana, which are my personal biggest beef alongside the fact Gross offers no real specific measures through which to enact ‘change’… yes. In fact, articles like that are written all the time on ESPN.com. Try reading some of the ‘open letter’ type articles that have been written ‘to’ Bud Selig by fairly well known sportswriters. Those articles are common, save for the transparent slams on Bigwig X.

  20. Jordan Breen says:

    Also, such critiques are very common among high profile boxing writers. Just in one instance, I recall many known boxing scribes slamming Bob Arum for his role in the fiasco with the Foreman-Schultz fight. Writers commonly disparage the sanctioning bodies and promoters in a fashion which puts ANY MMA writer’s grievances to shame.

  21. D. Capitated says:

    As I’ve said before, and will repeat again here: National commissions for pro boxing which would deal with this very issue have been talked about for literally decades, and gone nowhere. The idea that a national commission will be formed for MMA, or that Dana White needs to push the matter, as if he has the ear of the world, are nothing more than the wet dreams of a MMA media that sees the sport in a far greater commercial light than it really has. Sherk and Franca didn’t even crack ESPN.com’s headlines and got almost no press. In fact, the Tour De France doping scandal (which lead to ZDT dropping the tour from German TV) got far more media attention.

  22. While I quite often agree with you Zach, I have got to say that it seems like you didn’t read “the open letter” with quite full attention. I agree FULLY with Breen on this one. Gross’s point wasn’t that Dana is to blame but he is the one person who can do something BIG TIME about this. White could do something real for the sport this time.

  23. Zach Arnold says:

    While I quite often agree with you Zach, I have got to say that it seems like you didn’t read “the open letter” with quite full attention. I agree FULLY with Breen on this one. Gross’s point wasn’t that Dana is to blame but he is the one person who can do something BIG TIME about this. White could do something real for the sport this time.

    I disagree. I think Dana and UFC could certainly help, but they are only one cog in a bigger machine that needs to be functioning on all cylinders in order to clean up the drug problem. As long as Japan remains the second most lucrative market for MMA and as long as there are big-money territories with no commissions, we are going to see a continuing drug culture in MMA.

  24. Jordan Breen says:

    “I think Dana and UFC could certainly help, but they are only one cog in a bigger machine that needs to be functioning on all cylinders in order to clean up the drug problem. As long as Japan remains the second most lucrative market for MMA and as long as there are big-money territories with no commissions, we are going to see a continuing drug culture in MMA.”

    And for reference, while I think you were quick to critique some non-existing points in Gross’ article, we’re on the same page.

  25. Eduardo says:

    I personally think, although its more like an opinion trough following sports for years and years, that most Pro-sports or high level sports are full of steroids and other type of drugs to improve performance, and being cleaned by tests doesn’t mean people are not using them. The big difference is that MMA fighters doesn’t have the type of structure bigger sports athletes have in terms of masking stuff, knowing how to cycle or even advanced drugs that would be tough to be caught by a “simple” urine test. MMA is still a new sport and most of those guys could be taking stuff earlier on just to look good, or even to fight as no one would be tested. Now, they are facing a new reality that they weren’t ready for, but I think UNFORTUNATELY those things would never be wiped of from ANY Sport, let alone MMA.

  26. 45 Huddle says:

    And who knows how many fighters want to compete in Japan and are resistant to Zuffa due to the drug issue. I’m not saying every fighter, but there has to be a few who prefer the Japanese not caring if they stick 29 needles in their arm right before a fight.

  27. StreitigKaiser says:

    Dana White should at least go as far as to enact penalties beyond that of the athletic commissions if he really wants to reign in on steroid usage within MMA, expecially when underdeveloped commissions like that in California have no power to act on the matches themselves ie. Royce v. Sakuraba 2 and Sherk’s title retention. If it’s left unchecked steroid usage could really damage the reputation of the sport, its titles and the fighters. Steroids are the chink in the UFC’s armor, and White needs to get wise to that notion very quickly. He needs to present an aura of zero tolerance to discourage MMA competitors, even in lower echelion fight circles, from steroid use by setting an example. MMA pundits always complain about a lack of respect in comparison to other fight sports; the steroid scandels just supply more ammunition to the MMA haters out there. Keep in mind, this is also a really bad time with media scrutiny on steroids over the Chris Benoit murder case. Personally, I think Sherk-Franca should be ruled a no contest and Sherk should be stripped of the title in similar fashion to, if my memory serves me correctly, Josh Barnett.

  28. D. Capitated says:

    Dana White should at least go as far as to enact penalties beyond that of the athletic commissions if he really wants to reign in on steroid usage within MMA, expecially when underdeveloped commissions like that in California have no power to act on the matches themselves ie. Royce v. Sakuraba 2 and Sherk’s title retention. If it’s left unchecked steroid usage could really damage the reputation of the sport, its titles and the fighters.

    The UFC has twice stripped fighters who tested positive for steroids.

    As for all this talk about steroids being the downfall of MMA, I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but sports in general are in a crisis with performance enhancing drugs. Gary Player made news this week when he said that he knows of several golfers who are juicing and believes at least 10% of the tour currently is.

  29. Randy Rowles says:

    Here’s an article that dares to play devil’s advocate on the whole steroid issue:

    http://www.mmatorch.com/artman/publish/article_440.shtml

    Maybe it’s not all so black and white.

  30. Kevin says:

    I don’t think any promoter, even in Dana’s position, is in the proper position of leading such a charge. I don’t think many people realize that the UFC is closer to a team than a league, Dana is more like George Steinbrenner than David Stern. His job is to expand the interests of the UFC only whereas a commissioner of a real league would be there to expand the whole of the industry. You don’t have the Yankees promote baseball in Mexico, that’s MLB’s job.

    In the same vein, it’s MLB that penalizes players. Why? Because you can’t trust the teams themselves to do it themselves. They have a business interest not to do so, to keep the players playing, to keep winning and generate more revenue as a winning team. The damage of keeping a errant player on the bankroll is to the sport itself, and that’s why the league comes in.

    Now, as for the MMA, self-regulation does not work. We’ve seen how the WWE regulates itself…it doesn’t. State commissions seem to be the best avenue for regulation, and at least Zuffa embraces it to a point. What else can Zuffa do except seminars that we can trust them to do? The fact is Josh Gross is expecting White to act like a saint here and to neglect his business duties for the common good.

    If Gross doesn’t realize this, then he’s more naive than should a qualified editor in chief should be. If he does, then he’s being disingeneous and is risking the credibility of his online rag. Either way, the operation already looks like its ran from a cardboard box in Lemoore (“oh no, he just got Skyped”), this is not helping in the least bit.

  31. 45 Huddle says:

    You want Dana White to enact more penalties then the athletic commissions?

    1. He can’t deduct pay, because then it makes it look like they are just trying to get money back.

    2. CA suspended these guys for an entire year. Football players get hit for 4 games. Baseball players get hit for something like 60 games. A year is far worse then either of those suspensions. If the UFC went above and beyond that, it would be cruel an unsual punishment.

  32. Zack says:

    “2. Out of the large number of positives, how many are really in the UFC? Not a lot. For as many cards as the UFC puts on, their suspension level is still rather low.”

    Well even as recent as UFC 60, CA wasn’t testing for roids. CA has recently been testing everyone on the card, not just title fights, main events, and one random fight like NV UFC’s have in the past. Also, TX & UK UFC cards either weren’t tested at all, or were internally with those tests never being released.

  33. Ivan Trembow says:

    No response yet to the articles written about cleaning up MMA that have been published in the past day by the Houston Chronicle, Yahoo Sports, or CBS Sportsline.

    Houston Chronicle

    Yahoo Sports

    CBS Sportsline

  34. Body_Shots says:

    Great article Zach.

  35. Rolo the Cat says:

    “1. He can’t deduct pay, because then it makes it look like they are just trying to get money back.”

    He could donate it to charity.

  36. 45 Huddle says:

    Dana White responded to Josh Gross on The Underground. Dana says it best:

    My response to idiot Gross:

    Its funny how when bad things happen, you love to call me out and say that I need to jump in and fix it. All the positive things that Zuffa has done over the past 6 years and you write me an open letter telling me to fix the problem of fighters using steroids? You are the biggest idiot I have ever met in this industry. Josh “holier than now” Gross writes a letter full of insults and sarcasm about what my company and I have accomplished since buying the UFC- like it was some easy chore. This is the same scumbag who released the finalists of TUF season 4 before it even aired. Josh, before you start trying to fix my company, worry about the potential lying, corruptions and inaccuracies at your own shitty website.

    To all the fighters out there that fight for me or another promotion: these fan boy websites come kissing your ass when they want to shoot video of you or get an interview so they can make money off you. But when you make a mistake, they will be right there to kick your teeth down your throat. One of the great things that has happened over the past 6 years is that real media covers us now. So when these fan boy self proclaimed MMA websites want to do video interviews or any other kind of interview to make themselves money tell them to stop calling you and leave you alone. They are not doing you any favors- they are making money off of you. I have not let Sherdog into a UFC event in years. And the UFC is doing just fine.

    Anyway, back to steroids- every athlete on this planet knows what’s going on with steroids right now and we make it very clear what the athletic commission will do to them if they are caught. In fact, to my knowledge, athletes competing in combative sports are the only ones in the world who get drug tested by the government, that’s a pretty high standard to meet. Imagine if every NBA, MLB or NFL athlete was drug tested by the government every time they competed? That’s a very high standard yet UFC fighters face government drug testing every time they enter the Octagon.

    Everyone knows that it hurts me and my company badly when one of my fighters tests positive for steroids. Listen Josh “save the whales” Gross- I can’t save the world by myself. So roll your boss back into the ocean and write a letter “Attention all promoters.” When your product is human beings, there are always going to be problems and nothing is ever going to be perfect.

    Gross, you have no clue the stuff I deal with on a daily basis with fighters. Myself and the UFC are adamantly opposed to the use of steroids or any other kind of drugs. Most of these guys that fight in the UFC are my friends and I care about them. My job isn’t to smash them publicly and ruin their lives. Apparently, that’s your job. My job is to help them through whatever problems they might have- professional or personal.

    I don’t know if anyone has ever seen Josh Gross but the guy has never done anything athletic in his entire life. And you only have to see Jeff Sherwood and his staff to know the same thing about them. These people don’t know the first thing about the demands and challenges that professional athletes are faced with. I have my own opinion of Sherdog and Gross and how they run their business but I don’t write open letters to the public about it. So for these goofy supposed fan boy clowns to sit around and write letters about what I need to do with my company and my athletes is fucking hilarious.

    You guys just keep selling DVDs and chasing my guys around for video interviews so you can make more money and keep eating and I will handle the UFC and it’s fighters.

    Dana White

  37. Zach Arnold says:

    I’m disheartened by Dana’s response for one reason – the personal attacks against Gross and Sherwood.

    I agree with a lot of what Dana says in the response as far as what responsibility he has to fight the drug culture in MMA. I’m in agreement with a lot of what he says. What I don’t agree with, however, are the personal attacks against people’s looks. I hate that. Nothing makes me more ambivalent towards a person than when that individual starts launching personal attacks.

    I can’t possibly imagine Bud Selig attacking Barry Bonds on a message board or David Stern attacking Joey Crawford on a Yahoo message forum. Call me crazy, but there’s better ways to respond to comments you disagree with.

  38. 45 Huddle says:

    I don’t disagree. However, I can’t feel bad for Gross or Sherwood, because they have been throwing stones all year long. But that still doesn’t make Dana White right.

    At the same time, it is very obvious that there is much more to the story of why Sherdog.com is no longer liked by Dana White. There must be a very good back story here. Only small details have ever really been leaked.

    Even the Gross supporters on Sherdog are admitting that Dana White basically owned him on this one.

  39. People who have problem with Dana White’s character, should read this NY Times article on Sock Puppeting. Dana White isn’t the only corporate officier behaving badly. The only difference is that Dana White doesn’t hide and he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty.

    Josh Gross as the lead editor of Sherdog brought this upon himself. He made it personal and he commited the cardinal sin of journalism: he made himself apart of the story.

    For anyone who thinks Dana White should intervene on steroids due to his messiah complex, should read my blog on the Zuffa Myth.

  40. Randy Rowles says:

    The irony here is that Sherdog (err Gross — since Breen insists we acknowledge him) covered PRIDE events for all those years in Japan — where there was no drug testing — so there were no open letters to Morishita or Sakakibara. There was no shock or sadness at failed drug tests, no outrage, no calls for change, or labeling fighters as cheaters. I mean could you image if there had been drug testing back in the heyday of PRIDE? I’m betting there might have been a suspension or two!

    So basically, if the current drug testing done in the U.S. (which actually penalizes offenders, and quite harshly in CA) didn’t exist, this would all be a moot point. The only reason we even know about people getting caught…is because they got caught…and punished. Hello. There’s a system in place, and it’s working.

  41. Rollo the Cat says:

    “The irony here is that Sherdog (err Gross — since Breen insists we acknowledge him) covered PRIDE events for all those years in Japan — where there was no drug testing — so there were no open letters to Morishita or Sakakibara.”

    What do you mean no drug testing in Pride? On one of my Pride DVDs they even showed the urine cups backstage. That wasn’t just for show was it?

  42. Body_Shots says:

    They tested for recreactional drugs, didn’t give a shit about steroids and the like.

  43. Rollo the Cat says:

    Just a little sarcasm.

  44. ilostmydog says:

    The urine cups were for those who were on the ‘Luke Cummo’ drink your own pee diet at the time. :p

  45. Preach says:

    “I can’t possibly imagine Bud Selig attacking Barry Bonds on a message board or David Stern attacking Joey Crawford on a Yahoo message forum. Call me crazy, but there’s better ways to respond to comments you disagree with.”

    Well, US sports seem to work a bit differently than the european ones then. There are a lot of club presidents, managers, officials, especially in football (or as you yanks would say: soccer) that would give Dana more than just a run for his money. If our tv-stations had to bleep every curse-word like they have to in the US, you’d get a headache from a constant barrage of bleeps…

  46. Pierre-Luc Allie says:

    Dana is the face of MMA. He takes all the credit of the succes of the UFC but whenever something goes wrong, he passes the buck. Has the figure head of MMA, he needs to take a stronger stands than “don’t use steroids”.

    Dana knows that every other AC in the country doesn’t test as much as California because AC are revenue for the governement and testing every fighter will kill that cash cow.

    Let’s just see how many times the UFC is going to go to California from now on. This will reveal what the UFC really think about drug testing.

  47. D. Capitated says:

    If you really believe that Dana White is going to give up Southern California, which is probably his biggest market, to run shows in Tennessee and Mississippi, you’re fucking crazy.

  48. Smoogy says:

    I had to highlight this part of Dana’s response on my forums since the overwhelming reaction seemed to be “OMG Dana just pwned Shitdog!!1”:

    To all the fighters out there that fight for me or another promotion: these fan boy websites come kissing your ass when they want to shoot video of you or get an interview so they can make money off you. But when you make a mistake, they will be right there to kick your teeth down your throat. One of the great things that has happened over the past 6 years is that real media covers us now. So when these fan boy self proclaimed MMA websites want to do video interviews or any other kind of interview to make themselves money tell them to stop calling you and leave you alone. They are not doing you any favors- they are making money off of you.

    What he is saying is insulting to anyone who has contributed or enjoyed the coverage of MMA on non-mainstream outlets. It’s pretty laughable when you consider that the “hardcore” MMA outlets are the ones who let him know that clueless matchups like Machida vs. Rua aren’t going to fly, while the mainstream media is still chewing on the Zuffa Myth like it hasn’t lost its flavor and comparing MMA to dogfighting. Last time I checked, the first guy waiting to kick a fighter’s teeth down his throat when he makes a mistake is Dana fuckin’ White.

  49. 45 Huddle says:

    How is Dana wrong with what he is saying? The “MMA Media” as a whole is horrible. And a lot of them are just that, fanboys. As great as sites even like this one are, there isn’t a lot of legit journalism going around.

  50. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa.

    The open letter was a soapbox style editorial. Zach’s expose was also in editorial format, but rather significantly better sourced (from appearances).

    It IS Dana’s problem though. You see, Dana has this JOB, you know, he gets paid to make money for the Zuffas by running UFC. Part of making money is public relations. Now, you may disagree with Dana’s approach to PR (which seems to be of the “let’s start a controversy and get people talking” style), but this drug thing is a significant issue that he’s going to need to address because unlike his spouting off about Tito or letting Chuck continue to go on TV for previously booked appearances, or not shoving Quinton out on stage until there was an event (E3 and the unveiling of the new UFC game) that actually screamed for his presence, this one actually affects both what’s going on in the cage and what the general public thinks of the sport.

    Baseball is the world’s worst example of what to do about drug testing, IMHO. You have a massive divide in the baseball media between reformers and old timers who see steroids as being equivalent to ‘spitballs and stealing signs, just another trick by the wily hero player, and it’s just as acceptable as any other as long as he doesn’t get caught’.

    It’s not acceptable to the vast majority of the public though, who see this as a real crisis for baseball to overcome as a sport, and it’s definitely not acceptable at all in a one on one combat sport. MMA being associated with steroids and drugs at a time when the WWE is so tightly tied to those problems on a weekly basis puts MMA and WWE into the same mental box in the public mind. WWE = “sports” entertainment, WWE and MMA both have steroid problems, therefore MMA is “sports” entertainment.

    MMA isn’t “sports” entertainment. It’s a sport, and watching it is entertaining. Dana could probably be successful selling it as “sports” entertainment, but I honestly believe that he wants it to be perceived as an entertaining sport, because no matter how much money WWE gets, it will NEVER be mentioned in the same breath as the NFL or NBA.

    Right now, UFC outsells WWE on an event by event basis. They generate more PPV dollars, more ticket dollars, they’re probably outselling them on the DVD front. I don’t know if they have more eyeballs for their cable shows, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

    The question that should be on people’s mind is what makes MMA and WWE different from one another? Chief in my mind is that MMA is a sport. Sports are genuine competitions, and in a fair competition, you can’t have the results tainted by the effects of steroids and other drugs.

    So yeah, Dana needs to do something because it’s his job to do something. Sherdog (not sherdog.com) seems to be bear baiting, but his premise is correct.

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