I guess I’m one of those foolish people that just sort of assumed that if you’re totally juiced up heading into a UFC fight then you’re likely to win the thing. It might sometimes work out that way but not in the fight between Stephan Bonnar and Anderson Silva that went down last month. Silva won that fight by TKO in spite of the fact that Bonnar was tested after the fight and sure enough, Drostanolone (an anabolic steroid) was found in his system.
Bonnar supposedly retired from the USC after Silva handed him such a huge loss which is probably a good thing. It’s not the first time he tested positive during doping. Back in 2006 a substance was found in his system after UFC 62 fight with Forrest Griffin and he faced suspension and fines. Griffin had actually won that fight and the match itself is often credited for bringing a multitude of new fans to the sport.
For those you who might not be aware – MMA and the UFC practice the sport of brutally beating people up – trying to turn your opponent into a bloody pulp while you smash their head in. Sport? Why not just go back to good old days of the gladiators? It is amazing and disgusting that it is legal.
Here’s my question, did Bonnar really intend to retire at this stage in his career? He knew he was going to fail the testing and his official announcement of retirement from mixed martial arts came two weeks after the fight with Silva. That leads me to wonder if he was given a heads up on his positive test results and then opted to retire (or was pressured to leave) before punishment was dolled out.
Do you think that the majority of these UFC fighters are juiced up and just cross their fingers and hope that after each fight they’re not pulled for testing? Should the rules be stricter or do you think suspension from doing what they love and being handed a hefty fine is punishment enough? Do you think it was time for Bonnar to retire? Would he have continued a bit longer if not caught? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
