The news that Chael Sonnen was served notice by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) that he tested positive for "raised levels of testosterone" has resurfaced the debate of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and it's effect on the sport of mixed martial arts.
Sherdog.com was the first to report the news on Sunday, sending shockwaves through the industry, on a day where folks were preparing for UFC 119 fight week. Instead, much of the MMA blogosphere's focus is on Sonnen, the CSAC and the sport's leading promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
According to SI.com, Sonnen was worried about testing positive so he told CSAC executive director George Dodd he used an illegal PED, during a pre-fight conversation, that likely occurred at the UFC 117 weigh ins. This raises a variety of questions ranging from the safety of the sport's athletes, namely Sonnen's opponent Anderson Silva, to the policies and procedures of the CSAC and the UFC.
If the CSAC knew, ahead of time, that one of the licensed fighters "may" test positive for a PED, why was he allowed to fight? Perhaps the simple answer is that even if they tested him the moment they found out, the results would not be made available for a few weeks. Without "proof", they cannot prevent him from competing. The same positioning will likely be taken by the UFC, who, without a concrete positive test, cannot and surely would not, pull a main event fighter out of a title fight. Let's face it, the build up for UFC 117 was epic and removing Sonnen from the card would not have happened.
So this brings into question the pre-fight testing. To my knowledge, most commissions test main event fighters, especially those in title fights, weeks before the bout, and immediately after. Was Sonnen tested beforehand, and if so, when, and were the original results negative? It should also be noted that Sonnen did state that he was fighting a virus in the final days leading up to the bout, and perhaps did take some sort of medication that may have set off his concern that he "might" fail a test.
I am far from a medical expert, and do not claim to know if any pharmaceutical products designed to fight a cold or flu can elevate one's testosterone levels, but according to MMAjunkie.com's medical columnis Dr. Johnny Benjamin, Sonnen may be in some hot water here.
Dr. Benjamin puts aside the dodgy reputation of the CSAC and points to the fact that the testing facility they use is "the best of the best."
He stated, "the lab in question is the UCLA's Olympic Analytic Lab used by the U.S. and World Anti-Doping agencies. They test both an A and B sample just to check themselves. They happen to be more than 99 percent accurate."
Sonnen is in for quite the fight now, and better retain the services of an experienced attorney in this case. If we learned anything from the 2007 case of Sean Sherk, even if he is able to prove the CSAC and the lab are wrong, he may still end up losing his appeal (which he must file within thirty days of receiving the notice).
The UFC has been fairly quiet about this, minus the statements made by Dana White to Yahoo sports, which hint that the organization will not penalize Chael any more than whatever fine and suspension he receives from the CSAC. For most, this positioning has a portion of the MMA world enraged, but hang on; the UFC is a promoter, and not a governmental agency that sanctions and regulates MMA.
I concur with a recent piece written by Luke Thomas of BloodyElbow, who stated:
"Everyone can suggest that White and the UFC need to do more, but the solution is not simple. They are in a very tough, unenviable position. They cannot alienate key allies in the name of satisfying demands for more stringent testing. The answer, however it can be produced, is to get the commissions to strengthen themselves. Going over their heads only complicates the matter and removes what the UFC has been saying about itself for more than a decade: we ran towards regulation, not from it. Taking matters into their own hands is a de facto way of running away from regulation. That is not the solution to this very real problem."
But then there's my good friend, Kelsey Philpot from MMAPayout, who sees an opportunity here for the UFC to take the lead on the fight against PED's, even if the price for testing or hiring a third party to do so, seem expensive. Philpot believes that "the benefits outweigh the costs in the medium to long term; and it eliminates some of the UFC's operating risk."
And where is Sonnen, as well as his management in all of this? My multiple requests to his manager have gone unanswered and I definitely understand why, but some sort of positioning could help the matter. It's a very delicate situation that the brash and confident fighter must now deal with, ironically, by biting his tongue.
It's just a matter of time before Sonnen and his camp speak out on this matter, and the same can be said for the UFC. We are just days away from the UFC 119 pre-fight press conference, and you can rest assured that the media in attendance will quickly change the topic from the organization's first stop in Indianapolis, to this ongoing drama of Sonnen's failed PED test.
I will also be speaking with Dana White on Friday, via satellite, so be sure to check back here, all week, for all the latest on this curious case.
