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Strikeforce, Texas, drug testing, and some oddities; Mo out a year
By Zach Arnold | August 24, 2010
Update (8/24): King Mo reportedly needs ACL & PCL surgery. Nine months? If he rushes back, yes, but recovery time usually takes longer both physically and mentally to fully heal. To add salt to the wound, Rampage Jackson has another gay-friendly message for everyone about Mo.
Adding to the events of last night’s show is this Middle Easy report with screen captures showing KJ Noons and King Mo getting… something… squirted into their mouths by corner men.
- Brent Brookhouse: Major MMA promotions need to stay from Texas until athletic commission gets their act together
- MMA Fighting: In Defeat, King Mo displays grit worthy of a champion
- Dave Walsh: Strikeforce Houston – take things one event at a time
Which leads us to this MMA Junkie report stating that Texas’s athletic commission did no drug testing at last night’s Strikeforce event in Houston at the Toyota Center. This should come as no shock to anyone who has followed UFC’s past in the state (and the fact that reporters struggled to get basic info like salary figures after an event took place in the state). What makes this angle interesting is that Strikeforce didn’t do any basic drug testing on their own. Now, why do I mention that? Because this same issue popped up last May for their St. Louis event. Scott Coker admitted that Strikeforce would do basic urine drug testing of some fighters (mainly, Alistair Overeem) because of media pressure and interest as to whether or not he was on steroids. Did the promotion know that Texas wouldn’t drug test fighters and if so, why didn’t they feel any pressure to do their own drug testing for this show when they felt the need to do it for the St. Louis event? I don’t put the blame on Strikeforce for the Texas commission’s inactivity, but they certainly opened the door for some criticism with their actions on the St. Louis show when drug testing was an issue in question.
And yet, with all of that said, no one blinks an eye about the drug testing issue when Bellator runs shows in the state.
Related posts:
- Scott Coker on Bobby Lashley: “Some soul-searching to do” and “the true test happened tonight”
- Strikeforce’s weekend in Houston at the Toyota Center
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The compressed oxygen that King Mo and KJ Noons each sprayed in their mouth before their respective fights is such a non-story. It’s not an illegal substance and they did not “re-oxygenate” themselves during the fight. Legally it’s about the equivalent of taking a swig of Gatorade before entering the cage, if that.
Not drug testing is a serious issue though. Between that and the abominable reffing last night I think major MMA organizations should think twice about coming back to Texas for a while.
Can I huff nitrous during a fight too?
That would be awesome!
Or bring my oxygen chamber with me so that I can climb into it inbetween rounds?
Just in case?
I’m glad you brought that up. Is Gatorade a performance-enhancer in your eyes? (You’re not the first to bring up Gatorade in a discussion of such nature, believe me. I heard it, I think, from Mike Ditka of all people on ESPN Radio once.)
Gatorade is legal in Texas and most other states these days.
“This should come as no shock to anyone who has followed UFC’s past in the state (and the fact that reporters struggled to get basic info like salary figures after an event took place in the state).”
Struggled? They didn’t get any salary figures from Texas. Texas doesn’t give them out.
Texas doesn’t give out salary figures and doesn’t drug test. I could go on, but I won’t.
As for Gatorade, I am pretty sure it’s now legal between rounds in Texas.
Hopefully people start questioning Bellator for the drug testing in Texas in the future.
I find it very odd that they went out of their way to test on their own in Missouri but couldn’t even be bothered to ask the commission to test anyone this time. At UFC 106 the UFC asked for testing and 6 people got tested, that has to be easier than the work they did setting up testing in Missouri.
1) According to Texas Commission rules, oxygen is not on the approved list for substances at the location of the fight. It shouldn’t have been allowed. And don’t give me the “oh, it didn’t help them” excuse. They wouldn’t have done it if they didn’t think it would help them.
2) No drug testing means the organization doesn’t care about it’s athletes. What they are basically is saying is that they could care less if a fighter is juiced up an hurts his opponent more because of it. Anybody in MMA knows about Texas’s history. Strikeforce should of been better prepared. Another shining example of how amateur that organization is.
Also keep in mind that two of the biggest PED offenders of an era both came from Texas…
Roger Clemens & Lance Armstrong.
And both have lied about it until they are blue in the face.
Not exactly a state with a great track record.
And today’s “Most Ill-Advised, Kneejerk, Ignorant Comment” award goes to…
Hardly. I’ve been down to Texas many times for work. It’s a very different culture in that state. They very much have the opinion that they are better then the rest of the country and don’t have to go by their rules.
This is just another example.
It’s a Texas culture thing.
I’m from Texas, and I very much have the opinion that I am better then (sic) the rest of the country and don’t have to go by their rules.
I also make it a habit to write things that I know absolutely nothing about other than what I read on the internet.
“It’s a very different culture in that state.”
Easily as bizarre as CA as far as I can tell.
texas frightens me.
Well, here the target is blame Strikeforce, like always.
All the media and fans can scream for the oxygen and the not drug testing, but is not gonna happen anything. Strikeforce is taking his road, and step by step all the people are taking notice of them.
I just have to say it was a great event.
Gridds spoils Lashley, Jacare wins a very clever fight. And Mo box with Fejiao, and thast the result. I just wait to see Noons in front of Gilbert, that one is gonna be a hell of a fight.
I don’t blame Strikeforce for the O2 thing. I blame the Texas commission for that one.
The only thing Strikeforce is guilty of is being inconsistent with their drug testing policy. They set a precedent in St. Louis that they will do their own testing when they feel the SAC testing is inadequate, and then abandoned that precedent when they came to Houston.
Scott Coker on MMA Nation yesterday. In an act of mercy/attempt to leave any hope of a future interview, Luke let him off the hook repeatedly.
I don’t think Luke let him off the hook. He asked the questions and forced Coker to go on the record. That’s all he can do as a reporter. He can’t tie the guy down and shove bamboo shoots under his fingernails and force a confession.
All he can do is ask the question, listen to the answer, and ask a follow up if he feels there is need for one. He did that. Now we just have to wait and see how the controversy pans out and whether Coker changes his story (which is unlikely since he was so noncommittal).
I guess you can’t really force him to say anything he doesn’t want to. But as you say, his answers on interesting/questionable situations were very undeveloped/non-committal.
The major thing to take from the interview is that Coker is underprepared to answer extremely obvious questions in the wake of an event, or is sticking his head in the sand. He addressed drug testing by saying that SF will do it some of the time, and did it last time mostly because of pressure relating to Overeem (does’nt address anyone’s concerns about non-testing going forward and raises questions about the independence of the testing).
There was definitely reason to badger Scott more, to pin down his actual stances rather than his rambling, humming and hawing. That surely would have made for some awkward radio though since Luke would often follow-up only to get more of the same.
It is clear from his numerous interviews over the past few years that Coker has very little to say that is of any substance. In fact, when rumours arise, he’s often doing exactly what he denies. I never imagined the CEO of a major promotion with an event only every 1-2 months could know so little about his own company.
Oxygen absolutely should not be allowed. But the latest news is the commission doesn’t think it’s an issue: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/08/23/lawal-noons-cleared-in-canned-oxygen-controversy-rules-vary-by/
Another thing to look at is Noons and Lawal are very hated online, so that definitely has something to do with the “controversy of the week.” If Jon Jones or Shogun or another MMA internet darling did it people would give them the benefit of the doubt.
Herschel Walker just announced on a local news station that he’s fighting in October. I don’t know if that’s out yet on the MMA news scene.
He was on the news talking about something totally different and they asked him what else he has going on. He replied that he has an MMA fight in October.
The show did 367,000 viewers.