Featuring Ivan Trembow's Self-Important, Random Rants on Mixed Martial Arts, Video Games, Pro Wrestling, Television, Politics, Sports, and High-Quality Wool Socks

 
Forum Posts: Little or No Understanding of Drug Testing

Check out these quotes from a Yahoo Sports article. Sean Sherk, who tested positive for steroids after his defense of the UFC Lightweight Title in July, still apparently knows nothing about drug testing:

“He said a glucosamine supplement he took was later found to be contaminated with a testosterone booster. But he said if that’s how the steroid got into his body, he can’t understand how he should be held responsible for it.

“Even if it was a tainted supplement, I had no intentions of taking it and it was somebody else’s error,” Sherk said. “I think they should be at fault rather than me. Contamination of supplements is an issue. There have been people who have tested positive in the past for that reason, but I don’t think the fighter should be held responsible. It’s not the fighter’s fault.”


And (from the same article), UFC president Dana White apparently still knows nothing about drug testing, either:

“White has known Sherk for seven years and said he believed Sherk without hesitation when Sherk denied taking the steroid. White admitted it was blind faith, since he never saw a shred of scientific evidence that would exonerate Sherk.

White said he looked at Sherk, who is nicknamed “Muscle Shark” and knew he was telling the truth.

“I’m 38 years old and I’ve seen a lot of guys use steroids in my time,” White said Friday. “When guys are doing steroids, you can see the difference. Before they start, they have a certain body type. It looks a certain way. Then they take the stuff and there are changes and the body looks a different way. Then, when they get off, it changes again and looks a different way again.

“With Sean Sherk, his body looked the same since the day I met him. There’s never been one change. This guy is a maniac when it comes to how he treats his body and what he puts in it. I totally, totally, totally believed what he told me.”

In response to Sean Sherk's latest ridiculous statements about steroids and the ensuing backlash against those statements, Dave2 on a Fight Opinion comments thread wrote:

"As for the whole tainted supplements thing, I find it a bit odd how the state athletic commissions puts the entire onus on the athlete for knowing what they put in their body. It’s very common for fighters to use supplements. Any fighter that uses supplements could have been at risk for taking Nandrolone or whatever accidentally. What are fighters supposed to do? Stop taking supplements just to be on the safe side?”

To which I replied:

Uh… yes (if that's what it takes)? It is not an extraordinary requirement for fighters to be responsible for what they put into their body. That’s no different than any other athlete in any sport with any form of drug testing. Fighters are found “guilty” or “innocent” of having banned substances in their system at the time of the drug test.

How those banned substances got there— whether it was intentional use, a mis-timed steroid cycle (which is often the case when a fighter tests negative very shortly after testing positive), tainted supplements, or the Magical Steroid Fairy injecting it into them against their will as they sleep- is irrelevant. If you have banned substances in your body at the time of the drug test, you fail the drug test.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:04 AM

Permalink/Single Page for This Post ------ E-Mail This Post to a Friend

Click here for the Ivan's Blog Site Feed