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HDNet discussions with Ken Shamrock and Dennis Hallman
By Zach Arnold | June 11, 2010
The one with Ken Shamrock seems… I don’t know… not surprising.
The deal with Dennis Hallman claiming that 50% of MMA fighters use steroids… how does that exactly advance the issue here on cleaning up the sport?
Here’s what Josh Gross had to say about HDNet’s coverage tonight on steroids:
Steroid/HGH/PED use is a problem in MMA, as all sports. Kudos to Inside MMA for trying to tackle the issue. Door is open for many questions.
The problem is that HDNet is not a big enough platform to make a difference. If I can’t get the channel, a lot of people can’t. (If anyone has audio cuts from tonight’s HDNet MMA shows, please let me know. I’ve tried to directly get some multimedia from people who work for them and have gotten nowhere with it. If I have audio, I can transcribe quotes.)
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Hallman imo just stepped in it, he reminds of Schilling a guy running his mouth with zero facts but to top it off he also failed a test. Seriously Dennis needs to take Dana’s advice and worry about winning his next fight and getting caught than throwing out stats that he can’t back up.
1. Unless Hallman can prove his claim, then he’s an idiot for voicing it.
2. Gross will get on any bandwagon that puts pressure on Zuffa, despite the fact that this is legally not their issue. The laws are set up in most states that the burden is on the AC’s not the promoter. A small but significant fact that Gross refuses to acknowledge. And when the UFC goes overseas, they are smart to just take their hone states rules and use them.
3. As long as athletes are tested in some capacity, the vast majority of fans could care less if they are doping. That’s the reality of sports fans.
4. Another point that continues to be ignored is that many of the caught juicers started in the sport before testing was involved. The newer guys, who were really brought to the big stage after testing was regular…. really haven’t been getting caught.
5. When is the last time a UFC or Strikeforce fighter has tested positive? So why is this an issue with so many negatives tests? It’s because the MMA Media loves to hate on Zuffa. Go hate on the 6 fight SF card. But no. Instead they hate on White for something he is not legally obligated to do anything about and for an issue that has not given a positive result in a long time.
Steroid talks have completely died down in baseball lately. They test now. So people don’t care. It’s only when athletes get busted that it makes the news. It should be the same for MMA
Let the major sports figure out if HGH testing is actually effective. And if it shows to be, then the AC’s should follow suit. Until then, this is just a bunch of haters looking for another made up “drama” to complain about.
You’re conflating on two issues here:
1) The only storyline the media wanted to talk about with that Strikeforce card in St. Louis was Alistair Overeem and charging him with being on the secret sauce. It was so much trumped up that you had media members ‘boycotting’ interviewing him because he wouldn’t answer their PED questions.
2) You can legally say the athletic commissions are in charge of drug testing, but as we’ve learned from Floyd Mayweather you can apply pressure if you really want to and get the level of drug testing increased in quality.
I mean, if you want to argue about whether or not it would be good or bad for the UFC to elevate the quality of drug testing by having them be a key force in the matter, that’s fine. I’d be interested in hearing your take on that. Because I think if UFC wanted to be elevate the quality of drug testing by experimentation in conjunction with athletic commissions, it could certainly be a commendable step forward in progress.
Actually, steroid talk has increased this year because the power hitting statistics have gone down and with the three perfect games (Braden, Halladay, and Galarraga’s 28-out perfecto), everyone’s whispering about the steroid testing.
That said, there’s still the mystery 104 player list out there that somehow gets leaked like a dripping faucet whenever a big name gets outed yearly (I think that whole deal is incredibly counterproductive) and the idea that steroids isn’t an issue in MMA or won’t be is crazy.
The claim could be proven or disproven easily: if anybody is serious about wanting PEDs out of MMA, announce a surprise blood test for all fighters in training.
He’s putting pressure on any fight promotion running a show in America, UFC just happens to run the most. Strikeforce has caught more heat than anybody recently for harboring PED users due to Overeem (and on a lesser scale for aiding Nick Diaz to play around with ACs.) Trying to turn this into a witch hunt against Zuffa is pointless.
That’s partially true. I think fans would quickly turn against strict testing if suddenly their big stars were sitting out 6 month suspensions and you were left with Roy Nelson vs. Mike Russow for the Interim Heavyweight title.
But, much like in baseball with Bonds and A-Rod, when they turn on a player they get venomous in their desire for testing. They did it to Overeem, lots want it done to Lesnar and Mir. So when they see a fighter with lots of success they know is using PEDs, they will want action.
That’s circumstantial evidence at best. Especially when the substances people are believing are being used aren’t being tested for.
Again, turning this into a UFC witch hunt is silly. Who is the #1 fighter people are outraged with for doping? Overeem. Who does he work for? Strikeforce. And what are people asking for? For the commissions, not promotions, to get real and step up flawed testing. The only time Dana is brought up is because he has so much stroke with them if he pushed for it, it would be instantly done.
As Zach pointed out, there is lots of talk now about investigating amazing pitching performances this season. Two perfect games within weeks of each other when there has only been 20 in the entire history of the sport is as fishy as two guys attempting to break the home run record in ’98. I don’t even really follow baseball and I know that.
But remember, UFC is supposedly a major sport that’s going to be bigger than soccer in 10 years, right?
And if you’re looking to blame somebody for turning this into an issue directed at the UFC in your mind, blame Josh Koscheck and not Josh Gross.
Is this a shock? He was caught taking steroids after the Clifton fight, I would have gave him more credit if he had done it before being caught.
And I love how he blamed it on the fans wanting to see muscled up guys, give me a break.
Hallman did not say 50%, he said at least 50%.
He probably thinks 60-70% or more.
Bas Rutten says “c’mon let’s get real. Everybody does it”, confirming himself and other Dutch fighters are using or used to use anabolics regularly.
The real number is still unknown. In Amsterdam, it’s 100%. In North America, 80% maybe? There is no surprise for me. If I was a pro athlete without other source of income, I’d do it.
In Japan, you can buy real good steroids(not made in former communist countries or developing countries) at any ordinary family-owned pharmacy. And MMA fighters there don’t get tested for steroids or drugs (that’s why Josh Barnett never leaves Japan neither does Goodridge). The funny things is, despite the lack of restriction, they don’t use steroids. I can confirm that many of the international level fighters in Japan never even tried to use chemically produced substances banned in North America. Kazushi Sakuraba, Sanae Kikuta, Akihiro Gono, Caol Uno, Shinya Aoki are among them.
Dennis Hallman’s confession reminds me of ex-Sumo wrestler, Itai who claimed “Fixed matches count for more than 80% of all televised sumo matches.” at an international press conference held in Tokyo back in 90’s. Both Hallman and Itai are known for their high intelligence for an athlete. Although they’re telling the very truth, their claims will be gradually ignored and forgotten by the majority of populate because of the universal principle: Cheating is a part of the game (life).
Josh Barnett never leaves Japan? I wonder who that was on my TV last night during Bellator’s show in Florida.
He was sent from Japan to coach the Japanese fighter.
In Fall, he’ll represent Japan to fight in Australia.
So you admit you were lying when you said he never leaves Japan?
here is the episode at megavideo…it is about half way in
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=OVOIB9JA