Randy “The Natural” Couture has been quoted as saying that there’s a “Steroid witch hunt” with him in the crosshairs. ONE DAY before UFC 74, Joe Rogan, the UFC’s color commentator, added fuel to this fire when he did a guest spot on ESPNEWS to promote the Pay-Per-View event by claiming that Couture had undergone “hormone replacement therapy” and applauded what modern science could do for older fighters.
The single biggest catastrophe that the UFC could face would be a steroid controversy surrounding one not only it’s World Heavyweight Champion, but one of it’s most popular and well-known fighters. A catastrophe that could spell not just the end of the MMA “revolution”, but the end of the UFC as we know it.
Let us not forget, by the way, that “Hormone replacement therapy” is still steroids. If it’s true, so be it; Couture did it to himself. If it’s not true, shame on Joe Rogan for tainting one of the promotions top fighters. Steroids, in this day and age, are no laughing matter. They are taken as seriously as any other allegation in today’s sports world.
The UFC’s hands are tied to a certain degree as well. They can only test before a fight and not in the weeks spent training. If a fighter knows exactly how long a certain chemical takes to leave his or her body, they can take whatever they like and do as they please as long as they’re clean when they test, both before the fight and after. I applaud the UFC’s drug policy and it’s strict repercussions a positive test incurs, but in some ways the system could be changed for the better without impeding a fighters training.
The UFC must, after all, be sure that none of it’s current Champions are ’roid users. They must also make sure that no NEW Champion is a ’roid user, either. The UFC has an obligation to itself to make sure that each and every fight is as clean as it can possibly be.
Who would've thought?
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