Postive drug tests continue to sweep over the MMA landscape much like the AIDS crisis is currently ravaging the content of Africa.
Today, the California State Athletic Commission reveals that UFC Lightweight champion Sean Sherk has tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite, a banned substance.
Sean Sherk, the reigning UFC World Lightweight Champion, who last competed on July 7, 2007 in Sacramento, has tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite. He has been fined $2,500. His suspension period runs from the conclusion of his bout on July 7, 2007 through the remainder of his licensing year which is June 26, 2008. Furthermore, he has been assessed an additional 10 days in order to fulfill the terms of his suspension (365 total days). The additional days will be added at the beginning of his next licensing year when he reapplies.
Normal levels of Nandrolone range from 2 ng/mL (average person) to 6 ng/mL (athlete engaged in rigorous activity). Mr. Sherk’s reported level certified by the Director of Science and Technology from the laboratory that conducted the tests was 12 ng/mL. Both the “A” sample and “B” sample were tested and confirmed as positive.
[Source: MMAWeekly.com]
Not only did Sean Sherk test positive, but his opponent at UFC 73 Hermes Franca tested positive for Drostanolone and was fined $2,500 and suspended for a year as well. When is the last time both fighters in a matchup tested positive for banned substances?
This is getting WAY out of hand and something needs to change abruptly or the sport of MMA will die before it even gets out of the gate. Damon Martin at MMAWeekly.com wrote a very good article on the growing drug problem in Mixed Martial Arts and I encourage you all to check it out.
Zach Arnold at FightOpinion.com also notes the figures recently released by the CSAC which noted 20 failed drug tests by MMA athletes over the past 3 months.
The California State Athletic Commission released the latest drug test-related suspension figures from the time period of 3/31/2007 to 7/6/2007. Within that three month time-span, there were 28 failed drug tests - 20 of them in MMA plus Johnnie Morton refusing to take a test (MMA testing over a period of 17 events), 5 in boxing (over a period of 28 events), and 2 in kickboxing.
Do the math - that means 5 out of every 7 drug test failures in California were related to MMA, or a little over 70%. If you count Morton’s refusal to take a drug test as a testing failure (which naturally you should), then the ratio would hit 3 out of every 4 (21/28) drug test failures (75%).
[Source: FightOpinion.com]
What happens now? We can’t turn a blind eye to this problem and continue to not treat it as a serious problem. What will the UFC do with Sherk being the lightweight title holder? Do they strip him of the title like they did to Tim Syliva when he tested positive while heavyweight champion. If they don’t, in my mind it will be an absolute travesty and the UFC should be ashamed of themselves to no end. This is the UFC’s chance, on a grand scale, to publically step forward and state their position on the issue of banned substances.
Its important i comment first, as I’m the smartest guy I know:
Everyone is using, you may as well establish it - its always a crazy race between drug-labs and the authorities, the first trying to hide traces while the latter try to find new ways of detecting it.
Its a lost battle - all that is left 4 years from now is me anyhow!
The first dude really knows what he is talking about.
I truely believe he is the smartest guy in the world.
godspeed mate!
What the hell are you guys talking about?
We have to safe-guard the integrity of the sport, and we can only achieve it by kicking drug-abusers!
And personally I think Silva would kick Chuck’s 4$$ if they fought.
Too bad the UFC won’t open their wallet to properly reward the fine, hard-working athletes!
Schizophrenia is a bit**…
All in favour of naming Tyson Griffin most entertaining fighter in the world, say “I”!
I’ve heard that less than 10 years from now, 75% of American adults would fall into the category of “over-weight +”…
I think its great for you, since the heavy-weight division is the most entertaining one, so you guys would have a greater pool to fish your fighters from …
Who needs to live past 40 anyway??
Health is sooooo over-rated!
Have you guys noticed Big John isn’t that big anymore?
I think its because he started sharing his “special meds”, and everyone else just got bigger.
I don’t understand why don’t they allow Gi’s anymore…
I really think any fine Judo athlete can completely dominate the opposition using his Gi:
First, it doesn’t matter how hard you practice your take-down defense - if a judo master wants you down, you get down on command!
Then, he can lay on you Octapus-style, not letting you reverse him.
After you’ve been smothered in his Gi for so long, that you’ve lost your will to live, he can submit you easily.
Game Over!!
Drugs sux.
If you wanna do drugs, go ride the bicycle in the Tour de-France like the namby-pamby that you are!
If you wish, you can become a Javelin target in Rome - I heard there’s a serious shortage of human targets there!
Anyway, I really think the UFC must put more fights on a PPV card… I mean, if I was paying for it - I would be pissed!
Look at pride cards - on some you had 10 top fights squeezed into 3 hours and some change!
Speaking of pride, how about signing Fedor already??
I mean, he is not getting any younger…
And although he’ll still be breaking guys in half 5 years from now, it would be really nice to watch him unifying the belts while still at his prime!
This guy is unreal:
He out-strikes the strikers, out-wrestles the wrestlers, and out-grapples the grapplers…
10 bucks says he is doing drugs too!
Firstly, who are all these guys who never posted on the site before, all on the same thread talking about stuff unrelated to the thread??
I got no problem with you guys, and we all welcome your comments, it just struck me as strange you all hit the site at the same time lol.
Anyways.. in response to a few of you guys..
With regard to the steroid thing, if both guys test positive, does that make it fair? lol.. naw just kidding, we cant have this sht anymore, and they will continue to use drugs because really, the punishments are not harsh enough. If lets say on the 3rd offence you were barred from ever fighting again, guys might think twice before doping and trying to cover it up, is it even worth the risk?
I hear you redman, but look at pride now.. theyve had to cancel.. what? theyre last 2 scheduled events? UFC and pride cant even agree on setting up 1 fight, like chuck vs wandy, you think they could sit down and agree to the terms of a UFC buy-out? no way, its not gonna happen, Pride is dead..
Dodo, i agree the gui is a great weapon, it would be nice if the gui was optional. The thing is, theres a TON of positions where the gui can create a stalemate and slow down the action, maybe thats why they phased it out.
The gui is great, but its not the end-all be-all of mma. Judo like you said, and BJJ will be losing atleast half the moves in their arsenal, but theres a lot more they can use without the gui.
Another thing, just because your a judo expert and your wearing a gui, doesnt make you unbeatable, the gui can be used against you aswell. Especially if your a judo guy and your against a BJJ guy, im sure you could throw him, but once your on the ground you might find yourself out matched, and your own gui could be your downfall.
Reds191@yahoo.com
How many different names are you going to post comments under? I count 7 in this one thread alone.
You aren’t fooling anyone buddy
This is going to make it a lot harder for anyone to deny that there is a serious drug problem in MMA and that the major promotions such as the UFC need to test everyone themselves in addition to all of the athletic commission testing. Events like the UFC 73 where the commission tests everyone are the exception, not the norm. It’s far more common to have four or six fighters on the entire card tested, or zero in the case of UFC 69 and UFC 70.
Also, it costs less than $300 per fighter to test for banned stimulants, steroids, and recreational drugs, which makes it all the more ridiculous that less than half of the fighters are typically tested, and that there is no testing done at unexpected, random times.
i guess he fooled me Doc lol, i thought it was maybe the first 2 guys were the same, considering the “im the smartest guy on the planet comment” LOL
Reds, why even bother doing that?? you got too much free time on your hands lol
@BV
Hey buddy! My fellow “Wand” fan.. lol.. here is a comment that will blow your mind!
All this drugging…. is STUPID… however I have seen and heard confessions from EVANDER HOLYFIELD, and TOMMY MORRISON, that they were both on STEROIDS, so you know it’s gonna trickle into the SUPERIOR 3RD COUSIN OF boxing WHICH IS MMA… sucks but its life.. I say OFF WITH SHERKS HEAD!… lol….
hermes and sherk fight for there family but both get caught and cant fight for a year CRAZY i cant believe it and im really shocked if there are any mma fighters out there reading this u just dont hurt ur selfs u hurt us hardcore fans
all i’m going to say about this is i never really liked Sherk very much but after i watched his last fight i almost started to become a fan and i was even praising him for being a dominate champ. well Mr.Sherk you have one less fan for life!!!!
@Kansas
LOL, i hope BJ still gets his title shot at Sean “man love” Sherk. I thought everything Sherk intakes is organic an all that sht.. what was it organic steroids?? what was he doing sucking on a bulls ball sack??
@RJ
dam, your the same age as me an you have 6 kids?? sheeeeit.. i got none man!
How bout that GSP vs Kos matchup? now theres another win/win situation for Kos, if he wins, hes the man, if he loses.. what you expect.. its GSP..
no doubt Kos is gonna make a name for him self on the names hes going up against…….yeah i had my first kid at 15 and just never stopped lol.
Well, drug is a problem in mma and other sport. Let just stick to mma for now.
I think sherk should be stripped off the belt. UFC needs to man up against drug users esp when its their champion.
People do not realise fighting for a living is tough. Only those popular guys get paid a lot of money. Those fighting in undercard get paid ****. Lets face it, if u get paid more money in fighting that enables u to do it full time, u r less likely to take chances by taking drugs because it’s such a ‘lucrative’ job. A lot of these guys like franca, they have to take a chance because they r desperate. I feel sorry for franca. If what he said is true, i feel like he was pushed to a corner.
Don’t get me wrong, drug is bad in any form of sport. The punishment should be no pay in a fight if u r tested positive. I won’t go for the ban. The truth is if u take away all their purse, no fighters will risk taking drugs for their fight because it just simply not worth it. There is no point fining them $2500. Look at royce gracie, the man got $300000 after his fight. Do u think getting fine $2500 and 1 year ban means anything? It’s a complete joke! Do u think he will take drug or not appeal his case if the punishment is to take away all his purse?
The UFC will strip Sherk of the title. End of story.
It will be interesting to see who they match up for the vacant Lightweight Title. I doubt they will do this by my vote would be…
Penn vs Huerta
I agree, assuming the findings aren’t overturned I would suspect he will lose the title in 30 days. I think they will match a top contender up with BJ Penn in New Jersey for the title.
Damn it!
I tried to hide my identity so well, using the same Email everytime I replied, commenting about my Schizophrenia, and marking very tight links between close comments!
How the hell did you figure it out, al’mighty admin going by “Dr J”?
You must be a super-detective!
I think the UFC should make an old-fashion tourney for the title:
Pick the top 4 contenders in the light-weight division, and have them duke it out on a single card, using semi’s and a final.
Pride may have done many things wrong, or else it wouldn’t have been swallowed by the UFC giant, but the 4-fighters single evening tourney wasn’t one of them - it was genius!!
What do you guys think?
Would u like the title to be decided the super-exciting-fun-way i offered, or by another 25-minute lay and pray “war”?
Wow, I told you this “reds191″ guy was smart!
If I weren’t a super-straight inferior-male, I would definately be having his babies by now.
Rumours say he is the reason Brangelina are having problems, since she fell for him.
I think the 4 man tourney idea is ideal. I think it would generate some more ppv, and I think it should be added to a super card like Liddell / Silva … rematch of A. Silva / Franklin … get Vera vs Sylvia in there.. that would be a good card, worth the money anyways..
@Patrick
Sorry man .. lol.. I just wanted to get “a rise out of you” .. lol .. you love the Pitbull so I know where your button is..
Sherk sucks.. BV that comment on bull sack sucking was hilarious and I know they will strip him of the title… if he want’s it, thats a HUGE if .. B.J. Penn will be the new Light Weight Champ within 3 months.. but only if he wants it … and who ever knows what is going through his head, I can never tell what he is gonna do..
i know what you mean Kansas.. I was going for Jens to beat BJ! not because Jens is a better fighter, cuz hes not, but from BJs last fight against Hughes.. It didnt really matter that he lost, but the way he gassed out and got put in a crucifix??? no man, that shouldnt happen to a guy with so much BJJ experience and talent.. If you gas, you got no defense, so sht like that can happen.. PLUS! you got no offense, so really you have no way to win the fight.. maybe just survive.. thats not gonna cut it.
After the Jens fight, BJ showed me something that ive been waiting for forever.. CONDITIONING! enough of this, im so good i dont need to train bullsht! BJ could be the 155 champ EASILY, but if he wants the title and he wants the chedder hes gotta work for it like everyone else.. Look at Sherk, very one dimensional fighter.. like Franca said, hes a one trick horse, but he trained his *** off to get where he is!
Even with the drugs, its not enough to take drugs, you still gotta train man lol. My buddy from Dominican Republic used to do mad roids! Ive personally never done that ****.. mostly cuz i dont want shriveled up little raisins for ballz!!
Kansas is right - they have to add some fights to the card.
And if Dana wants the fighters to bring their best to the final bout, he has to lead the card with the 2 semi’s, mix some fights in the mid, and close with the final.
That way the fighters will have some time to recover.
I really think it may be a good idea by the UFC to copy PRIDE’s grand prix - Every year they should hold a quarter-finals around June, semi’s in September, and close the year with the final.
The best thing about this type of competition is, that its a Playoff.
You americans love playoffs - you got it going on each one of your main-stream sports, so why not using it for the best sport currently out there?
Im not completely against Tournaments where guys have multiple fights in the same night.. though its pretty messed up for the actual fighters.. Now theyre risk of injury increases by a factor of 10, and they may be fighting more than one bout, for the same money? LOL they better be getting more money man! or else its pointless..
As far as Open weight tourneys, im totally against them.. really, whats the point of that? just to see if they could beat a bigger guy.. they might, but the bigger dude will have the advantage, and its even MORE risk of injury. Honestly id rather they fought NHB than open weight tourneys.. I even think NHB is safer than open weight tourney style, same night multiple bouts. I dunno man.. its just crazy to do that..
I hardly think that a $2500 fine will in any way affect Sean Sherk. It is obvious that the only way to really hurt him is to separate him from his precious belt. This is very dissapointing to hear that a guy who is proclaimed as “the hardest training athlete” is on roids. Now, the UFC can’t even have a lightweight title fight till June 26th, 2008
I dunno about BJ vs Huerta.. the problem with Huerta is.. he hasnt fought anybody!! Id much rather see BJ vs Joe Daddy.. I mean, hes not fighting no name guys.. His last 4 fights were vs Josh Neer, Yves Edwards, Mishima and Guillard.. I mean, those guys are all dangerous, theyre all well rounded and they were all VERY decisive victories..
I think Joe Daddy has proved himself.. and then some.. Give the guy a shot. Bj will definately be his toughest test yet, but i dont really think Huerta can handle BJ..
I doubt it Amir.. They will probably strip him of the title after spending so much time and money trying to build the 155 div. Theres no way they can afford to basically take a year off the 155 belt.
So we wait to see it get stripped, then guess who will be fighting for a vacant title.. man the UFC has a lot of vacant title fights… it’s been that way ever since Shamrock wont the first vacant 205…. sucks.. same thing with Mir vacating the title, Penn vacating the title, Ortiz vacating the title.. lol… they just can’t win for losing..
i was going to say that huerta and penn would be a good match but im liking bj penn vs joe daddy better
I really can’t understand what the problem is in cracking down on illegal substances. What drives me even more crazy is, how dumb and desperate does a fighter have to be to do such a thing KNOWING he will be tested right after the fight. ..and have it exposed all over the internet forever. In my mind it’s career suicide. No one will ever respect you as a fighter again, there will always be doubt in the fan’s minds, especially when you perform above average again.
And re: a Huerta vs. BJ Penn fight…I think that fight would blow the roof off any arena. Huerta brings constant pace and BJ usually likes to do the same. Joe Daddy= BORING
B.J. Penn + Anyone = Exciting fight.. don’t care who you are.. the key is B.J. .. he puts a$$’ in the seats.. amigos
amir
joe daddy boring his last to patches he got hit maybe twice
Kansas
i guess we will have to wait on our little bet
@Richard
I will take the same bet on B.J vs Joe .. or Huerta.. or Hughes for that matter..
You up?
im a betting man but not stupid i like joe daddy but not enough to put money on him even though i think it would be an excellent fight
What sucks most about all of this is that drug use is so rampant in mma that you almost have to assume that they all use. That really sucks for those that don’t. Most of these guys you see with bulging muscles and veins popping out are using, and are just not getting caught. If anyone thought Sherk wasn’t using or always has is retarded. The sport needs an overhaul …like now. You fighters out there who use beciase of the pressure should be ashamed of yourselves. You say you have to in order to make a living…well if you keep it up MMA will go back to the bars and streets fighting for cover charges. Do you want that?? I’m a huge MMA fan and I’m about done with the sport for this ****. I’m tired of it.
i know most of you will dis agree with me on this but i dont really think BJ Penn deserves a title shot of any kind right now. in his last 5 fights he has lost 3 of them and i think he needs 1 or 2 more wins to put him back on top. i know Penn has proven him self in the past he has not been up to snuff lately. his record is not that bad but if you look at the big picture he has only won just over 66% of his fights and most of his loses have come in the last two years. i dont think a win over Pulver at light weight puts you in the number one spot if so Lauzon should have gotten a shot and Lauzon has a slightly better record then BJ and he has gone 5 and 0 in his last 5. i’m not saying Lauzon should get a shot i’m making a point.
What about Kenny (can flo )florian. From his appearance i doubt he was on juice. And he fought a most likely juiced up Sherk to a close fight and opened up his head like a can of tuna. You have to factor in an unfair chemical advantage. Just when I was starting to give Sherk credit for learning to pass the guard. Strip him of the belt his fights are boring and he rides his opponants to a decision every time. Bj vs Florian + Spencer Fisher vs Joe stevenson winners should meet for the title. 155 is loaded and there are many up in commings. (look out for tiago from brazil. Ya im GB BJJ partial so what ). Pride tournament format is a bad idea and altough somewhat interesting to watch it devalues the sport
ken flo is good but bj has a wicked guard but fisher vs stevenson sounds mighty nice
Some great points guys.. Id like to see any of the fighters we mentioned at 155 fight each other. Huerta, Penn, Stevenson, Fisher.. in any combination, however you slice it, they make for some very interesting fights! Theyre all finishers and theyre all hungry.
Amir, why do you think Joe daddy is boring? he finishes his fights man, unlike Sherk.
bvrasp
sometimes i think amir doesnt know what he is talking about
@Dr.J
do you have any idea about how many fights Forrest Griffin has left on his contract?
@everyone
i just read on a rumor section of another site that at UFC 76 Shogun will be fighting Forrest Griffin. i am wondering if the UFC is going to get rid of Forrest because hes not living up to what they thought he was. his last big win was over Elvis since then he has had a close loss to Tito, a repeat with a roided Bonner, a bad knock out by Jardine, and a sleepy win over Ramirez. now i’m just wondering if there feeding him to Shogun as a last shot at being able to hang with the big boys. any thoughts?
id rather see rua vs griffen than lyoto, still i think ufc could do better. howabout rua vs ufc newcomer houston alexander? that could be interesting. i know hes fighting alessio sakara at ufc 75 but i just think alexander would be a good fight for rua’s debut.
@R.J.
Wow…. Zuffa/UFC has no patience..I mean if that rumor is true, Forrest is done.. he will get killed by a fighter of Shogun’s caliber, they must really have it in for him, I figured they would at least let him develop, I mean he has some boxing, leg kicks, and an extremely basic if not anemic ground game, so yeah, he needs about 4-5 more fights with mid level competition before he fights someone like that…
rj i dont think forrest is done people will always point out his historic fight with bonnar which in fact was just two guys with no power and little skill i dont think forrest is going anywhere anytime soon except for maybe the ufc
i dont think forrest is going anywhere when he loses i dont see a chance for forrest i really dont
LOL houston alexander?? nah man.. that guy would be a good matchu for Eastman.. but NOT shogun! Shogun would hurt that guy bad, very quickly. Just cuz he KOed Jardine.. doesnt mean hes any good. From what i saw of his mechanics and strategy, he aint sht man, he had a punchers chance even to beat jardine and he connected while Jardine was clumsily trying to get a thai clinch. Then Houston just went right hand crazy and wooped Jardine..
That would never happen with Shogun, he wouldnt land that lucky shot, because Shogun doesnt make stupid mistakes like that.
@Richard,
Please explain how I don’t know what I’m talking about, since you obviously ALWAYS know what your talking about, when it’s even coherent english.
Amir
i always know what im talking about,u said joe stevenson is a boring fighter,how u figure ?
He’s boring in that he’s another wrestler who learned some BJJ. All we need now is to see him vs. Sherk to completely bore the fans out of their minds. I hate grapplers and always prefer strikers, which he is not. From an excitment standpoint, I get sick of watching takedown after takedown and tons of smothering.
joe daddy doesnt just lay on people he finishes fights and his last fights havent been boring
I guess that’s a matter of opinion…
EVERYFIGHTER SUCKS…..
THAT TAKES JUICE
@Rich and @Amir
To jump in on your post about Joe Stevenson… I haven’t’ seen his MOST recent fight, but to say the least, I have never found him THAT exciting, I would like to see him fight a mega striker, or someone like Penn, that would be fun to watch..
@Amir
The only time Rich types b.s. is when he is drunk out of his mind… lol kidding guys.. but yeah, Rich you have come online late at night and posted some funny crap man, while you were toasted… like rofl stuff.
dam, i dunno what you guys find exciting, but im always excited to see Joe Daddy fight. After what he did to Yves Edwards i was really impressed! Then when he fought Melvin, who is a pretty good striker, he came through like a champ. I dont think a striker would have much chance at beating him. Hes big and muscled, i think a smaller more agile BJJ specialist could beat him at his own game.
@BV
hmm did someone say BJ PENN?!?!
@Kansas
Ya i think BJ is the nemesis of guys like Joe daddy and Sherk, the only other guy who could beat them would be an even bigger stronger wrestler.. GSP managed to do a good job with Hughes, but i think Hughes ego helped to get him beat also. In general i think its hard for a striker to beat a strong wrestler.
BJ PENN BLOWS… HES GOOD BUT I DONT LIKE HIM I WOULDNT WANT HIM TO BE THE POSTER BOY FOR THE LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION… GO NATE DIAZ…
Nate Diaz? You are calling BJ a punk Pat? NATE IS A PUNK man look at his attitude.. BJ IS A FORMER CHAMPION not a Punk, you don’t have go hating on everyone… of course with you EVERYONE BLOWS AT SOME POINT OR ANOTHER! LOL!