steroids in MMA

Is steroid use an epidemic in MMA? Or are most of the fighters who have tested positive simply the victims of inept athletic commissions, shady nutritional supplements, and tainted goat meat? After Josh Barnett’s latest chemical misadventure took down Affliction, we decided to round up every steroid bust in the sport since early 2002, when the Nevada State Athletic Commission began testing MMA fighters for performance-enhancing drugs. The results…may shock you.

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JOSH BARNETT (Pt. 1)
Caught: 4/22/02, following his TKO victory over Randy Couture at UFC 36.
Tested positive for: Boldenone, Nandrolone, and Fluoxymesterone
Punishment: A six-month suspension from the NSAC and the loss of his UFC heavyweight title. Barnett fought the steroid charge, and didn’t compete again in the U.S. until PRIDE 32, four and a half years later. (See: Belfort, Nastula)
In his own words: "I am a fighter, not a lawyer. I am innocent, and I should be fighting right now."
Repeat offender: Barnett actually tested positive once before, for two different anabolic steroids, following his submission via strikes victory over Bobby Hoffman at UFC 34 in November 2001. Josh was let off with a warning (which went unheeded, apparently) and the incident was never officially reported — but according to Sherdog’s Mike Sloan, Barnett’s first positive steroid test is what inspired Nevada to begin regularly testing UFC fighters for performance enhancing drugs.

TIM SYLVIA
Caught: 10/7/03, following his first-round knockout of Gan McGee at UFC 44.
Tested positive for: Stanozolol
Punishment: $10,000 fine and a six-month suspension from the NSAC. Sylvia voluntarily vacated his heavyweight title following his positive steroid test.
In his own words: “[A]fter I fought Ricco [Rodriguez], I was in for a long layoff. I decided to try some things and maybe change my physique a little bit and get in better shape. But whatever I used, it came back positive. I don’t know how that happened. I did it so long ago and I was way off it before I fought McGee. I think they found it in my fat cells. I guess it stays in there for a while, huh?...I heard what Josh [Barnett] had used, so I used something different and I was only using it to trim my physique. I thought that what I was using, it was going to be out by the time I fought McGee. I fought Gan and apparently it wasn’t out.”

(Loosely translated it means: 'Screw this drug-testing stuff, I'm going back to Japan where they know how to treat a brother.')

The good news for Affliction is that people are talking.  Josh Barnett’s failed steroid test and the ensuing media storm has, at the very least, gotten Affliction’s third event in the news.  This week Josh Barnett was #73 on the Google Trends list.  That put him well behind search topics such as “Michelle Obama haircut” (#29) and “dog takes baby from crib” (#25), but the point is, there’s some buzz now.

The bad news is that the buzz is mostly surrounding the one guy who we know will not be fighting Fedor Emelianenko next weekend.  Maybe the interest extends to the panicked search for a new opponent, at least for some people.  But who, aside from the hardcores who already know why Brett Rogers would be a sort of okay opponent and Paul Buentello wouldn’t, is willing to pursue it that far?

('Furthermore, I'd like to say that there's at least a chance that I didn't do anything wrong, and I am kind of committed to partially clearing my name of most of these possibly erroneous charges.')

Here’s what’s weird about the statement Josh Barnett made on his MySpace blog this morning with regards to his current steroid-related licensing issues in California: never does he actually come out and say that he didn’t do it.  At best, Barnett implies his innocence.  He suggests that he was surprised to have failed the steroid test, but stops short of saying that it would have been impossible for him to have popped positive.  In a sporting world where we all just expect athletes to vehemently deny steroid use right up until conclusive proof emerges, this is not a good sign.  Check it out and see what we mean:

Many of you are wondering what's happening.  What I can say is that when applying for my license, the CSAC asked for me to submit a urine sample for testing prior to granting my license as they do with everyone, I believe. It was not a random test. I had no reason to believe there would be any issues and went in to submit my sample at the earliest possible opportunity on June 25th.  I never once thought there would be a problem.

(At least people would believe him if he offered the old 'I just wanted to look ripped on TV' defense.)

On today’s Affliction conference call Tom Atencio said he had no idea what the “banned substance” was that Josh Barnett tested positive for, but added that they were supposedly in the process of testing his second sample and Barnett planned to appeal the results.  Zak Woods over at Watch Kalib Run has a press release from the CSAC that sheds some light on the issue by confirming what everyone except Nick Diaz already assumed – the banned substance was a steroid:

Barnett’s June 25 drug test came back positive for 2a-methyl-5a-androstan-3a-ol-17-one, an anabolic steroid. CSAC learned of the results July 21 and immediately denied a license for Barnett. …Barnett’s test was observed in the presence of a CSAC representative and the sample was sent to the World Anti-doping Agency test facility at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on June 25 for processing. CSAC was notified of the results yesterday.

So there it is, right?  Only this is the CSAC we’re talking about, and it’s never that easy with them.

(Baroni training at Xtreme Couture, looking ripped.)

Joe Riggs was expecting a fight with Jake Shields in Strikeforce this summer and didn’t take kindly to the news that he would be getting Phil Baroni instead, but talking with Riggs this afternoon he said his focus is now fully on Baroni, who he is expecting to be “pharmaceutically enhanced” when they meet in the Strikeforce cage on June 6.  While the “Diesel” stopped short of saying that Baroni was definitely on the juice, he did say that Baroni exhibits all the typical signs of a steroid user, from his physique to his performance on fight night.

“He always shows up in shape, looking shredded and puffed up, but I think he’ll be pharmaceutically enhanced, too.  Just because he doesn’t test positive for steroids doesn’t mean he’s not on them right now.”