Performance Enhancing Drugs or (PED’s) have certainly become a hot topic in regards to professional Mixed Martial Arts and some of the sports’ top athletes. From Wanderlei Silva to Anderson Silva, fighters have been being called out on their use of PED’s. Some of the most recent of these offenses would be the following two fighters. Anderson “The Spider” Silva, who is renowned as the world’s greatest fighter failed his drug test for his return fight to the octagon against Nick Diaz. He tested positive for drostanolone and androstane which are anabolic steroid metabolites. However, he was tested again after his fight had occurred and then tested negative for those same metabolites. The controversy over the results of these tests still looms. If in fact Anderson Silva had taken these steroids, one viable explanation as to why would be the rehabilitation of his broken leg which he suffered in his second bout against the current middle weight champion Chris Weidman. After such a horrific injury some may feel some sympathy towards the desire for a speedy and effective recovery. This is all hypothetical of course; whether Silva actually took these substances the general public may never know for sure.
The second of these most recent offenses would be Silva’s opponent Nick Diaz. He would seem to be in quite a different situation than Silva in regards to an explanation for his failed test seeing as he had tested positive for marijuana metabolites. According to www.mmafighting.com Nick Diaz was not issued any random pre-fight tests, therefore one must conclude that he knew exactly what he was doing and some may say true to the Diaz nature simply didn’t care. While the argument against marijuana in sports could be considered different than that against anabolic steroids the fact remains that it is a banned substance and Diaz had tested positive for it. It shall be quite interesting to see how the situation is handled with both fighters, particularly with Nick Diaz; considering the penalties that certain fighters such as Matt Riddle have faced in the past. Matt Riddle was released from the UFC after failing his UFC 149 post-fight drug test for marijuana metabolites. Will Nick Diaz meet a similar fate?
Of course in regards to any sports related PED testing one may ask several questions from several points of view such as the ethics of the issue or the general public opinion. But what do fighters think of their peers’ involvement in these failed PED tests? Even Anderson Silva had mentioned in the past a possible lifetime ban would be a sufficient punishment for offenders. Some may say this is extremely harsh. A recent quote from UFC fighter Josh Burkman suggests a seemingly accepting stance. He states "I've seen PED's used by athletes in all sports at all levels. This is not an MMA issue. It seems to be part of sports. All sports. Lance Armstrong, A-Rod, baseball, football, basketball, speed skating ... Anyone who overlooks this is naive. That doesn't mean all athletes use them, I'm just not surprised when guys do." With PED usage apparently a prevalent issue in all sports what is there to be done about the issue overall, if there is any concrete solution? Or shall athletes simply accept that this is part of professional sports? An issue with so many questions may only beg time to supply us with the answers.
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