My view on the use of Steroids in Mixed Martial Arts

As a professional athlete and a promoter of overall health and well being, I would like to announce my disregard for athletes who test positive for steroids. Athletes who take steroids are mentally beaten already. It would only mean they think that they are incapable of winning the fight as is. I have no respect for any fighter who ever took steroids or is currently taking steroids. And I have the up most respect for athletes who avoid the use of performance enhancing drugs.

I believe combat sports should tighten there laws on steroids. Fines and banning a fighter for 6 months or a year just doesn't cut it for me. This isn't baseball or basketball. People can get seriously hurt in the cage. If a fighter were to fight a tough battle and find out later on there opponent was on steroids, it would only make every injury sustained meaningless. It would actually make the entire fight meaningless.

The UFC represents the most elite athletes / marital artists in the world. Fighters on steroids take that image away. Fighting in the cage is a true test of ones ability. Man to man! All the blood, sweat, tears, sacrifices, and hours upon hours of studying the arts amounts to nothing when you include steroid use in your curriculum.

It is basically cheating! If a person were to walk into a casino in Las Vegas and cheat using loaded dice or some sort of machine or cheat in anyway to beat the casino. The person is banned from that casino for life and given plenty of jail time. No actual physical harm is done by the cheater and the cheater still gets jail time. If you cheat in the UFC and you beat the living crap out of someone while on steroids you get away with it with only a slap on the wrist.

This is Dana's reaction to Sean Sherk testing positive for steroids. Dana is very much against steroid use as well.

"Everybody knows our position on steroids. We invest a lot of money in these guys, then they get caught doing something stupid. It's going to happen. It's so hard to deal with. Should I call everybody every day and say, 'Don't snort cocaine, don't smoke heroin, don't kill anybody, don't drink and drive, don't do steroids'? It's common sense. Steroids are illegal. If you get caught by the athletic commission, you're getting suspended and fined and you'll never be looked at the same way again." -Dana White (http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=2956319)

According to Sherdog.com Chris Leban was busted for steroid use and only given a 9 month fight suspension after his fight on Oct 18th against Michael Bisping. That's basically nothing.

The UFC should upgrade there laws on steroids. How about banned forever and jail time!That's what I think. Professional fighters will think twice before taking these sort of drugs if the consequences are raised.