Is The UFC About To Become A Dirty Joke?
I remember when I first saw a mixed martial arts (MMA) bout. Back then it was called cage fighting and it was touted as no-holds-barred anything goes hand-to-hand combat.
As a lifelong boxing fan I was interested in checking out another combat sport to get into. However I like many people was shocked at the brutality of cage fighting. I didn't see the same nobility that existed in boxing. Allowing one man to kick, stamp and butt his opponent while on the floor I felt was going too far. So I left it behind.
Then a few years later I became aware of the Gracie brothers, in particular Royce (pronounced Hoyce) Gracie. I admired this guy because he used a martial art called Brazilian ju-jitsu (Bjj), whereby he would quite literally tie his opponent in knots.
I was fascinated to see how a man lying on the ground in a seemingly disadvantageous position, could come out on top and win the fight. However after their initial storm, their opponents started to learn Bjj and so the Gracie dominance came to an end. In its aftermath we had a situation whereby MMA bouts would often comprise of two guys on the floor with not much action going on.
So I slipped away from the sport once more and got my combat fix from boxing.
Dawn Of The UFC
A couple of years ago, in fact just before joining Steemit I got into the UFC's (Ultimate Fighting Championship) version of MMA. I got into it because of Conor McGreggor. I liked the way he spoke about martial arts and the way he carried himself, not to mention his entertaining trash talking.
Once more I dived into the world of MMA and found that it had much been improved since I last watched it well over a decade ago.
One thing struck me though, I realised a lot of the fighters had body shapes that were a lot more muscular than boxer's bodies. At first I put that down to the difference in the sports. A boxer trains for stamina and power, and so are always trying to find the balance. This is reflected in their body shape, they have big muscles, but also have a (mostly) thin layer of fat to help sustain prolonged exertions.
An MMA fighter on the other hand has smaller gloves, is allowed to knee, elbow and kick as well as punch. They are involved in shorter bouts and it seemed to be more about explosive power.
OK great, let's get into this sport!
Wide Eyed Fanboy
The first fight I watched was McGreggor vs Nate Diaz II and I was hooked. I became a UFC fanboy, I couldn't get enough of it. It still seemed a bit brutal to me, and so the lighter weights and a bit later the women's contests attracted me, however I was so into this new sport.
One thing that I felt MMA had over boxing was the apparent lack of politics. As far as I could see, there was none of the blatant ducking of fighters that had started to annoy me in boxing. The best fought the best and that was it.
I dove deeper and deeper, I bought Urijah Faber's book, I trawled Youtube for as many old fights as I could find. I subscribed to MMA news channels. I was in.
Jones The Bones
One of the channels I got into was Mindsmash, an excellent analytical channel run by a martial arts enthusiast whom often spoke about the mental side of the game.
He introduced me to Jon 'Bones' Jones, the light heavyweight champion at the time. I immediately liked this guy. I liked his almost languid style and so I started getting into him.
So far so good.
Flawed Genius
Part of the appeal of Jones is that he is not perfect. He parties, he screws around, he gets in trouble with the law. He's the typical bad boy.
His rivalry with Daniel Cormier was the classic good vs evil. Cormier the clean cut all American ex-Olympic wrestler, versus the cocaine snorting party boy. Great!
I was ecstatic when Jones beat Cormier the first time, and when he beat him a second time I went crazy. I thought it was hilarious that Cormier cried in the octagon after his defeat. Jones was an absolute legend, and then . . .
Drugs Are Bad M'Kay
NO! Jones is a drugs cheat, he tested positive for anabolic steroids and was stripped of the title. Then I found out this had happened TWICE before.
Suddenly I felt like a piece of sh*t for laughing at Daniel Cormier. I realised that in fact Cormier (affectionately known as DC) stood for everything I admire in sport.
Hard work, never say die attitude, overcoming adversity and personal tragedy (his father was murdered, and he lost a child). Plus the main virtue, HONESTY.
My allegiances switched, I was a DC fan. I couldn't believed I'd trashed him in Youtube comments. I even went back to a few and apologised, admitted I was wrong to bad mouth this guy.
He was the hero, not the dirty cheat Jon Jones, ach forget him, he'll get his comeuppance.
USADA's Gambit
The United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) found that Jones had provided a tainted sample and thus the UFC stripped Jones of his championship belt. Great no problem there.
Everyone expected a four year ban, seeing as Jones has been proven to be a perennial cheat. Fine by me.
However we have been waiting for some months for the ban and nothing is forthcoming. Not only that, Jones has been speaking lately as if everything is fine. In fact some commentators think that he is gearing up for a November return at UFC 232.
If this happens it will make the whole USADA process a mockery and will unfortunately end my involvement with the sport. Clearly if Jones gets away with a slap on the wrists it will be because USADA have bowed to pressure from the UFC and its charismatic president Dana White.
This sends out a disgusting message to the fans, to impressionable kids, and worst of all to the fighters in the UFC.
Defending The Indefensible
Let's be clear about this if you take steroids to gain an advantage over your competitors you are a dirty cheat. If you do so in a combat sport, you are lower than the lowest cockroach on earth. In fact to call you a cockroach is a huge insult to that filthy little insect.
The reason being is that usually you are putting your own health at risk whilst at the same time depriving a clean athlete of the money and the glory that you so crave. However in a combat sport you are putting the health and possibly the life of your opponent at risk.
Just ask Michael Bisping who had his retina of his right eye detached and is now permanently disfigured because of a head kick from drugs cheat Vitor Belfort.
Martial arts is big on honour, respect and integrity and there are few things more dishonourable and disrespectful than taking drugs to beat your opponent.
The End Is Nigh
I once asked @colossus39 why his brother @michaelvenompage who fights for the rival MMA promotion Bellator, doesn't join the UFC and become a huge star.
He replied that his bro doesn't like the way the UFC treats its fighters. I didn't really understand and so simply accepted the answer. I felt it was a shame because his brother is remarkably talented, and has even fought his first two pro boxing bouts.
However now I see what he means. If they let 'Bones' Jones fight again within four years they do themselves and every other fighter on the roster a disservice. The message being;
Don't take drugs to cheat, unless you're a huge star, because we will protect you.
ARE YOU AN MMA FAN? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT DRUG USE IN THE SPORT? DO YOU THINK JONES SHOULD BE BANNED FOR FOUR YEARS OR MAYBE LIFE? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT STEROID ABUSERS IN GENERAL?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
Title image: Leslie Jones on Unsplash
Huge MMA fan here.
There is PED use in every sport and actually the UFC has been improving on this.
About Jones, whatever the rule is...
PED users should be banned for life.
Dude, I was rooting for Jones but watching Cormier crying like that was the opposite of hilarious. Seriously how can you think that it was hilarious, that was such a humiliation...
Some fighters prefer Bellator but not for that reason. It's about contracts and the way they treat fighters.
Bellator is actually way worse than the UFC when it comes to PED use...
You're right, it is in every sport, some worse than others. I do think the UFC has been improving, however there are some notable exceptions. I think Anderson Silva's let off was a joke and if they let off Jones then that is a clear and distinct message.
If you get caught and you're a nobody, you will be banned and made an example of. If you're somebody that Dana White admires, then you can pretty much do what you want.
Three times, THREE times.
It is to my eternal shame that I reacted like that. DC is actually a great guy and I just got caught up in the whole rivalry and was so behind Jones that I revelled in him utterly crushing Cormier. Ugh, I'm disgusted with my reaction, no excuse.
I know it's about contracts, but it kind of filters down that if you're a champ you'll get away with PEDs is what I was getting at.
I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on this, it just seems to me that the Bellator fighters don't seem as pumped up as the UFC's. However I defer to your greater knowledge in this area. I'm new to the sport and pretty much only watch the UFC.
Thanks for the comment, great to hear from a big fan :-)
Cg
USADA is what's helping cleaning the sport. It's not perfect but it's way better than everything we had before. Bellator doesn't have USADA testing...
Oh wow, I had no idea. Does it have any kind of anti-doping policy?
Cg
There is almost no testing at Bellator, actually 0 testing when their events are in the middle of nowhere with no commission. Ben Askren once said that he had only been tested once (already had 8 fights when he said that)...
Wow, thank you for enlightening me. In that respect the UFC are absolute angels compared to Bellator.
I still believe that they want to make excuses for the stars. Like if Conor got caught (I don't believe he is a cheat btw), they would move heaven and high water to make sure he served a year or less.
Maybe I'm wrong, but this whole Jones debacle is making me think that. It's been months and the guys constantly on Youtube and Instagram talking about his next fight as if nothing has happened.
Cg
But that's true for anything else in this unfair world so can't just blame the UFC. Think about it if all of a sudden something happened to the top 10 NBA players don't you think that everyone would try anything to keep them playing?
Funny that you mentioned Conor, he already got special treatment, to me that's even more disgusting that letting Jones fight...if any other fighter did what Conor did they'd be out of the UFC after five minutes...
Very true, though it doesn't make it any more right...
Also true about Conor, in fact fighters have been ejected for similar/less. I'm thinking Paul Daley.
Though I don't agree that it is more disgusting than letting Jones fight, it's hard to quantify it, but I just think that Jones is years of calculated cheating. Conor was one moment of madness.
Cg
Cg you are such a versatile person... you read so much and you do so many things :) its amazing really![](https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://media.giphy.com/media/3ornkbjovHYDcRjkA0/giphy.gif)
I also believe in honesty...and should be away from drugs and instant success without hardwork. Specially young generation should take a note of this..I also read ur debate on existence of God..... Today we Indians celebrating teachers day in our country... So happy teachers day to you.. I learnt a lot totally new ideas and opinion... Ur thoughts are liberal. And logical..
Thank you for your kind words @geetasnani, I'm surprised you saw my little debate! :-) We all have the ability to be teachers on one level or another; happy teachers day to you to!
Cg
Yeah... I read whole of your threads.... On existence of God... debate...it was not little debate.. Hehee.. Its really mindblowing.. Thanx cg for giving me new perspective:) i told you i am permanent fan and follower of your post...
I think no matter who used a drug in the sport should be banned for life to avoid any ideas to use it. What I think about steroid abusers is they are a part of environmental pollution.
I agree, I would love to see lifetime bans. Unfortunately money and greed won't allow such a thing.
Cg
i think who ever caught to use drug , should be ban for a certain time , but if he did twice then ban forever is the only choice 😅😅
Exactly, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Fool me three times, man that's gotta be a lifetime ban! :-D
Cg
yeahh !!
To the question in your title, my Magic 8-Ball says:
Hi! I'm a bot, and this answer was posted automatically. Check this post out for more information.
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://s18.postimg.org/51o0kpijd/play200x46.png)
Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.
Yes 🤔
Posted using Partiko Android
Yes, MMA fan here. Drug use in the sport is despicable. I think Conor should be banned from UFC for his bus attack in NYC, I think Jones's case he clearly was not reaping benefits of steroid use for his match against DC so should not be banned for 4 years.
The UFC is entering dangerous grounds by giving its stars a pass, like letting Conor fight again after what he did. They make business decisions that are short term profitable with a dangerous potential downs side in the future..
How do you work that one out?
Cg
Pretty sure he tested negative right before the fight and after the fight..right? If he had nothing in his system leading up to the fight then he doesn't have a strength or endurance gain during the night of right?
Posted using Partiko Android
He tested negative because the thing he took isn't detectable yet. However as one ex-dirty doctor explained. Often when these labs are preparing their drugs for these guys, they don't clean out the equipment properly.
So they get a contaminated substance going in with whatever new drug they are using. The fact is what he got caught with does not appear naturally anywhere. Plus of course he has been caught twice before, he is a drugs cheat and should be banned.
Have you heard Chael Sonnen talking about how Jones hid under a dirty octagon in a gym for 12 hours hiding from USADA?
The guy is a blatant cheat, and anything less than a 4 year ban (should be life in my opinion) is spitting in the face of you, me, every MMA fan and every clean competitor in every sport.
Another theory is the Ben Johnson phenomena. I am old enough to remember the former 100m world record holder's career. I was really into athletics back then. Johnson was running slower than the women the year before he got the world record.
Johnson took steroids on the day of the race even though they wouldn't help him physically, however psychologically they gave him a boost. So maybe Jones felt he needed some mental edge because he was so nervous.
I personally think it's the first one. Which is why he kept saying "It doesn't make sense" at his trial. Which was his only defence by the way. It didn't make sense because he was taking something else and was confused as to why he got caught with that particular steroid.
Listen I was a Jones fan as well, but I can't forgive him for this, nor should you or any of his fans.
Cg