“Ridding Mixed Martial Arts of Steroids”

Thursday, July 19, 2007 was certainly an interesting day for the world of mixed martial arts (MMA). For perhaps the first time ever, even before John McCarthy slapped his hands together and bellowed aloud, “Let’s get it on,” a laboratory was in possession of urine samples that guaranteed a title fight would be pointless; both challenger and champion were guilty of steroids usage. Unless something happens during the appeals process, both men will be suspended one year and fined $2,500. In failing, Sean Sherk becomes the third champion in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history to do so, the previous two being heavyweights Josh Barnett and Tim Sylvia. Barnett denied using steroids and spent the past few years fighting in Japan where testing is non-existent. Sylvia admitted he used steroids, claimed it was for aesthetic purposes so as to make himself more appealing to the masses, and accepted his punishment. Sylvia later came back to regain the heavyweight title. At the time, the Sylvia model was seen as the way to go: act contrite and the commissions will forgive and forget. That was also before Armando Garcia and the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) got involved.

Sherk and Franca both failed a test administered by the CSAC and California is becoming famous (or infamous, depending on what side of the aisle one sits) for testing. Garcia is taking no prisoners when it comes to drug use in combat sports, and MMA has been the guiltiest sport of them all. According to stats released by the CSAC, of the twenty-eight drug violations in the state between March 31 and July 6, twenty were by mixed martial artists; nine of those were for steroids with 13 for marijuana. That was just in California, and just in over three months.

It’s also worth noting that the July 7th UFC PPV was the first show the company has run in the state of California since December of 2006. During 2007, the UFC has run three events in Nevada, where there is regular drug testing, one in Texas, where there was no testing, one in England, again where there was no testing, one in Northern Ireland where there is no athletic commission but an independent lab was reportedly brought in to oversee the testing process, and two shows in Florida where there is testing. This isn’t to intimate in any way that the UFC is running from states where there is drug testing. In fact, the opposite is often the case, with UFC President Dana White being among those that lobbies the loudest for government oversight.

Franca has admitted his steroid use, citing a nagging ankle injury as the reason he took Drostanolone. Sherk has denied use of Decadurabolin, instead saying that a combination of legal supplements created a false positive. Though it is unlikely Sherk’s claim will pan out, there have been cases of false positives of Deca in the past so it isn’t impossible for his name to be cleared.

With everyone from cyclists to baseball players, Lance Armstrong to Barry Bonds, embroiled in scandal, performance-enhancing drugs are hardly unique to MMA. Unlike most other major American sports, MMA has had a number of well-known persons fail tests. Compare the fact that three UFC champions have failed drug tests - along with an MMA legend in Royce Gracie, just to name a few - to baseball, where the names attached to steroid failures generally elicit a scratched head and a “Who?” The critic can say this is proof that MMArtists are all using steroids, while the supporter can use it as evidence that the testing process is legitimate and that there are no favorites played.

The reason athletes use illegal substances is really quite clear: they seek a competitive advantage. They wish to be quicker, stronger, have better cardio, heal/recover faster, etc… Some may feel a case of “Keeping up with the Joneses,” seeing less talented fighters succeed because of a chemical advantage, and seek to level the playing field. However, no matter how one slices it, they’re cheating. Unlike many who use steroids in other sports, where the negative outcome may largely be limited to the adverse health effects felt by an individual later in life, usage in combat sports is more dangerous. If a cyclist uses steroids, he’s able to ride a bike faster and longer; if a fighter uses steroids, he’s able to physically harm another man with greater efficiency. Performance enhancing drug usage in combat sports is literally a matter of life and death.

Yet, despite the possibility of being fined and suspended for a year, both Franca and Sherk were willing to take a chance and use the “gas.” Many will be rightfully outraged at these two, but keep in mind they’re not the only guys using, they’re just the guys that most recently got caught. It’s a truism within the fight industry that drug tests are really an IQ test. When Phil Baroni recently failed a steroid test (also in California), some were more surprised that he was caught than that he was using. Mike Sawyer recently wrote an article on how easy it is for guys to beat drug tests, most doing so by employing little more than household items. In the age of the Internet, if there is information available on how to beat a test, fighters will find it. Though athletic commissions can randomly test fighters throughout the year, almost all testing is restricted to a few days before the show. Fighters know exactly when and where they’ll be tested, giving them ample time to prepare. And yet guys still fail tests. Well, these are grown men that get paid to punch people in the face, not Rhodes Scholars.

The issue isn’t going away on it’s own; guys aren’t going to one day decide en masse, “Ya know, this steroid stuff just isn’t for me.” In the long-term, the evidence seems to overwhelmingly point to steroids doing tremendous damage. The obscene number of deaths within the pro wrestling industry, many of which can be directly linked to prolonged steroid use, could prove an eerie harbinger of things to come for MMA. But fighters tend to be short-term thinkers, focusing on how they can win tomorrow, not how they can walk in twenty years. And short-term, steroids work. This isn’t a group of high schoolers smoking outside the gymnasium; fighters don’t take steroids to look cool, they take them because they’re effective. Action needs be taken and the sooner the better.

There has been noise that the UFC should lead the charge towards cleaning up the industry. This is a somewhat fair request, as if one wants to clean up football they don’t start with the Arena League, they go straight to the NFL. Still, there’s only so much the UFC can do on its own and without government oversight the industry itself is unlikely to find uniformity. It’s something one can call the Kurt Angle effect. Due to a variety of factors (most, if not all, drug and steroid related), World Wrestling Entertainment found Angle unfit to be an employee and fired him. Almost immediately Total Non-Stop Action wrestling hired Angle and has made him a centerpiece of the promotion; if one company says good-bye, another will say hello.

Hopefully a hypothetical situation will better illustrate the limitations of relying on just the UFC to clean up the sport. Rising fighter John Smith gets his big break in MMA when he’s signed to fight in the Octagon. Smith really wants to win his UFC debut, so he gets on the juice. He comes in and obliterates his opponent. The crowd is going wild as a new star is made. A few days later it comes out that he was filled with the kind of drugs a veterinarian hesitates to give a horse. A website here and there report on the failure and Smith is forced to sit out for a few months because this was only his first offense. Being a forgiving man, White lets Smith come back and fight for a second time. Once again, Smith comes out and runs right over his foe. And once again, the crowd goes wild. And, yes, once again, it comes out that Smith has failed a steroid test. This time the UFC suspends him a year. However, MMA is a niche sport and the vast majority of fans watching on TV really don’t know that Smith failed a drug test – twice – and just think he’s been out of action for a while. All they remember is that he’s a badass MMArtist that they want to see fight again. A year goes by and it turns out that White is not only a forgiving man, he’s a baseball fan, so he gives Smith a third strike. Rinse, repeat, and don’t get it in your eyes: a win, a celebration, and a failure. White has had enough at this point and publicly bans Smith from the UFC – for life! (One can imagine a few more vulgarities spruced throughout the rant White would go on.)

This is where the UFC acting without coordination from the athletic commissions becomes pointless. John Smith is now a big star, having won three fights in eighteen months time. Though Smith was disciplined, the average fan tunes into the fights once a month or so and isn’t keeping abreast of the ins and outs of the industry so they might not even know he’s a cheater; despite more and more mainstream coverage, the UFC isn’t at a place where a rising star failing a drug test will get any attention from ESPN or the major newspapers. Smith’s charismatic and a great fighter and the UFC has fully released him from his contract and over at Showtime, Elite Extreme Combat is looking for a popular fighter. Smith fits the bill, so they sign him up. The UFC may have banned Smith from fighting, but so long as an athletic commission licenses him, he can legally slug it out anywhere else, and for what would likely be a decent chunk of change. Without an athletic commission ban, one that would be recognized and enforced by other commissions, Smith could continue on as a cheater.

Leaving the testing in the hands of the UFC also raises questions of credibility. If the UFC were to spend millions of dollars hyping a main-event, tested the fighters and found them both clean, with that much money at stake, even if both fighters were clean, there would be a great deal of skepticism. Policing oneself is a time-honored tradition in golf and nowhere else.

The administration of punishments ultimately falls upon the shoulders of the athletic commissions, and for good reason. As a government entity they have the legal authority to penalize a fighter without issue of fairness as it relates to the ability to earn a living (imagine if Tito Ortiz failed a drug test and the UFC, maybe holding a grudge, decided to suspend him for a decade), and most importantly: that’s what they’re there for! Perhaps some legislators see the commission as a way to enact an unseen tax upon a company, but the commission’s raison d’etre is to regulate the health and safety of the combatants.

What the punishment should be has changed over the years, gradually growing more and more severe. Compare the one-year suspension both Franca and Sherk now endure to the four-month suspension Sylvia received following his test failure. With this being the biggest boom period the sport has ever seen, and the winner of the fight likely to see several high-profile main-events come his way, a year off could easily be a seven-figure hit. Despite the possibility of literally losing out on millions of dollars, both Franca and Sherk chose to use steroids. (Obviously due to the alternate possibility of making millions of dollars.)

The solution isn’t a straightforward one, and there are likely any number of positive steps that could be taken that would reduce the number of people using steroids. The following proposal is simple, yet admittedly bordering on extreme. It could almost be considered the nuclear bomb of punishments. In order to eradicate, best as possible, performance enhancing drug use from the sport, it may also be necessary.

Before there can be a change in punishments, there needs to be a change in testing. Right now, fighters submit two pre-fight samples: “A Sample” and “B Sample.” In order for a fighter to fail a test, both samples must come back positive for steroids. Fighters also submit a post-fight specimen, one that is checked to see if a fighter took anything after his first sample. Obviously a fighter could be clean of steroids in the “A Sample” and “B Sample” then do PCP and fight like a crazed mad-man.

There’s a flaw in this system of testing, and it’s not easily correctable. Ignoring the fact that as previously mentioned, fighters know exactly when a test is coming and can then prepare in advance, it also doesn’t stop a fighter from immediately fighting; the test results always come back after the fight has taken place! If using steroids gives a fighter an unfair advantage, letting him hit harder for example, the current system does nothing to protect the other fighter from getting beat on. All it does is say, “Sorry you got beat up by a steroid user, but we punished him after the fact. It’s a shame you got your nose smashed into fifty some odd pieces.”

Random testing is often brought up, and it’s something the UFC could do voluntarily, but it would be difficult for an athletic commission to carry it out. For starters, many fighters don’t live in the states where fights are held. If the CSAC wanted to randomly drug test Sherk, they would need to fly to Sherk’s home in Minnesota. Even then, there would be issues of legal jurisdiction; the CSAC cannot claim the legal authority to drug test in Minn. There’s the chance that the athletic commissions could agree to test for one another, just as they often recognize the suspensions of another commission. Still, that would only work in states where there are true athletic commissions and on fighters living in the United States of America. Would it really be fair that Rich Franklin has to undergo a great deal more testing than Yushin Okami, simply because Franklin lives in Ohio and Okami in Japan?

What athletic commissions could do is test two weeks before a fight takes place. True, not all fighters would be in the country, and for all the reasons listed above it might be a logistical and legal nightmare, but at a minimum it would seem reasonable to test the main-event fighters two weeks out. Though testing everyone on the card would be ideal, ensuring that the main draws are clean would be an excellent first step. With PPVs bringing in millions in revenue, the UFC could afford to fly a couple of fighters to Las Vegas or Sacramento for a half-day of testing. Or, if the legalities could be worked out, the commission could simply fly to each main-event fighter’s location and collect the urine sample right there at camp, not disturbing a fighter’s final preparations. This way, the test results would be back in time to prevent a fighter from getting in the Octagon with a guy filled with steroids. The traditional pre and post fight testing could also still be administered in the current fashion to both the undercard and the main-eventers.

For right now, the punishments will focus only on steroid use. Recreational drug use, due to the addictive natures at play, may require a different disciplinary approach. This is not to minimize they danger they can play, both in terms of long-term health and short-term impact on a fight. It’s simply a recognition that marijuana and anabolic steroids are generally viewed as different classes of drug, and as such may need to carry different penalties.

Failure one punishment is as follows:

- Fighter is suspended one year.

- Fighter is fined 110% of fighter’s purse.

The fines currently levied against fighters are a pittance, with California maxing out at $2,500. After his recent drug failure, Royce Gracie – somewhat flippantly, but also with a lot of truth behind his words – pointed out that it would cost him more to retain a lawyer than it would to pay the fine. The fines need to be such that the financial reward for cheating is minimized. By not only taking away a fighter’s entire purse, but also forcing him to actually pay extra, the commissions would be making a fighter pay for cheating – literally. At the same time, by not outright banning a fighter for a first offense, the commissions would be recognizing that everyone is human and mistakes are made.

Failure two punishment is as follows:

- Five-year suspension.

- Fighter is fined 200% of fighter’s purse.

Considering the athletic peak of a fighter, a five-year ban is almost a lifetime ban and should act as a severe deterrent. After a fighter fails a first test, even if it was a false positive, they should be on their best behavior and not so much as look in the direction of something that could cause them to fail. They’ve been given a second chance, and failure to not stay clean is a slap in the face of everyone that believes in redemption. The 200% of the purse fine speaks for itself.

Failure three punishment is as follows:

- Lifetime ban.

- Fighter is prohibited from having any affiliation with a fight school of team.

- Any team that was found to have employed a banned fighter in any way would run the risk of every licensed fighter in the school being in line for a one-year ban. The school itself would be subjected to a $100,000 fine.

This is the scorched earth policy. Any fighter that violates the drug policy on three separate occasions has shown a reckless disregard for the sport and the people that compete. He is a recidivist to a degree that is insulting. Such a fighter does not deserve to be a part of any combat sport in any way and should become persona non grata. He would have pariah-ship forced upon his head.

Where all fighter fines are concerned, the UFC can also go the extra mile and write a clause into every contract that any fighter failing a steroid test would forfeit any PPV bonus money they may earn. Not only would this further punish a fighter, it would also monetarily reward the UFC for enforcing a strict steroid policy. If Sherk was due a $1 million PPV bonus, and the UFC didn’t have to pay it because he failed a steroid test, that’s an extra $1 million for the company.

Fighting has always been about risk and reward, and fighters are constantly making such assessments, often in the blink of an eye: shoot for the double, fake the left hook, take the armbar, throw a high kick. They will use those same powers of judgment where it concerns steroids. Right now, the rewards, from celebrity-ship to millions of dollars, make the possibility of a one-year suspension and $2,500 worth the risk. This must change. The punishment should always dramatically outweigh the rewards, not the other way around. {plug}