Biggest news of the week

Roids.

"Chael Sonnen, the brash Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contender who nearly defeated champion Anderson Silva in August, tested positive for a steroid before the fight in Oakland and faces a year-long suspension, California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer George Dodd said Sunday.

...George Dodd, the CSAC official that first alerted the media on the failed drug test, talked to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, and said that Chael tested positive for a "natural steroid", and it happened on his pre-fight drug test.

Sonnen will have 30 days to appeal his suspension and $2,500 fine, said Dodd, clouding UFC plans for a Sonnen-Silva rematch early next year in Nevada... Dodd said Sonnen’s positive test emerged from a urine sample he gave before the fight that was processed through the UCLA Olympic drug-testing lab".

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/9/20/1699143/chael-sonnens-pre-fight-drug-test

Not definitely roids.



Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times quoted Dodd as saying that the test came back positive due to the presence of a “natural steroid.” The commission chief contradicted the report.

“No,” said the Executive Officer. “I don’t believe it is a natural steroid.”

The commission, according to Dodd, first received notice of the test result on or around Sept. 2, and took about two weeks to re-confirm the result. This is standard operating procedure for the regulatory body and explains the 41-day lag time between Sonnen’s championship bout with Anderson Silva at UFC 117 and his notice of testing positive.

Per commission protocol, Sonnen has 30 days to respond to the notice and lodge an appeal of his $2,500 fine and year-long suspension. He has not contacted the commission yet, but if he does decide to challenge the result his hearing will most likely come somewhere near the end of November or early December.

Dodd also informed Sherdog.com that the UFC, via vice-president Marc Ratner, was informed that an unnamed fighter was flagged for a positive test Saturday morning. He said Ratner confided that they were already aware of Sonnen’s impending suspension.

Anfields5thKing wrote:You been through many training camps?

didn't see that coming

fuck.







off.

Chael Sonnen to Appeal Positive Drug Test

Chael Sonnen's camp has released a statement for the first time since it was reported last Saturday night that the middleweight contender tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug following his UFC 117 loss to Anderson Silva.

In an MMA Fighting exclusive, Sonnen's manager, Mike Roberts, wrote that Sonnen will appeal the California State Athletic Commission's claim that he tested positive for "abnormally high" levels of testosterone and that Sonnen will break his silence on the matter in the coming days.

"It is our policy not to comment on pending actions by the Athletic Commission. Chael is consulting with his legal advisors and physicians and will have a statement in the near future. Chael will file an appeal with the CSAC and looks forward to working with the Commission to resolve this matter."

The 33-year-old reportedly received formal notice of his test failure last Friday and has 30 days in which to file his appeal. Once he does file his appeal, it will be heard at the next CSAC commission meeting on Dec. 2 in Sacramento, Calif.

Sonnen is subject to an automatic one-year suspension and $2,500 fine. He was scheduled to fight Silva in a title rematch in Jan. 2011, but that fight is obviously on hold until the CSAC makes a final ruling on the case.

The CSAC has yet to officially announce the positive drug. They were expected to make an announcement Monday afternoon.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/09/21/chael-sonnen-to-appeal-positive-drug-test/

Bas Rutten on steroid use in MMA.

“I am just blown away with who gets caught. What happened to good food, water and some supplements? That’s what I did, and I never had a problem with people being stronger or in better shape.
Listen, if you had shoulder surgery, or whatever surgery, and the doc tells you that you will heal faster, do it, but then do NOT fight! This is giving the sport a bad name, everything (MMA does) is already “frowned upon” like masturbating in an airplane.
Sorry, had to do that…was writing and thought about ‘The Hangover’. But seriously, it’s very sad, and you do NOT need (steroids). If you can’t train had anymore because you are getting up there in age, then don’t fight – very simple.
I could never look at myself in the mirror if I would have cheated – never – and don’t give me the BS excuse “but everybody is doing it”. Yeah, lots of people don’t use their freaking turn signal. That doesn’t mean that I also simply not gonna do it. I use this example because those people stress me out…just don’t care about anybody else but their selves. And that’s the same as using PED’s. Don’t care about our sport getting a bad name, ‘as long as I get better’.”

The_Axe_Emperor wrote:everything (MMA does) is already “frowned upon” like masturbating in an airplane.

Bas is a legend.

Josh Burkman on steroids in MMA.



The use of performance-enhancing drugs in MMA is always a hot topic of discussion, and it was made even more so with the recent report that UFC 117 headliner Chael Sonnen tested positive for a steroid substance.

UFC veteran Josh Burkman has a unique perspective on the subject, both from training with Sonnen at Team Quest and having taken steroids himself.

“The reason why I wasn't on the first season (of “The Ultimate Fighter”) was that I didn't pass my (steroid) test,” Burkman said Monday during an appearance on the Sherdog Radio Network's “Beatdown” show. “I learned my lesson early on and I'm glad for that. Guys are training so hard that they are (using performance-enhancing drugs). They're taking things for injuries and they're just trying to stay healthy and stay strong. It's a rough sport, and guys are going to do what they have to do. There's more money on the line now. There's more riches. It's a deep-rooted problem in athletics and it has been for 100 years, and I don't see it going anywhere and I don't see a way of fixing it either."

Burkman said he took the steroid Winstrol to prepare for the first season of the reality show. Though he competes now as a welterweight, Burkman -- who cuts to 170 from the 200-pound range -- was slated to compete in the show's 205-pound division.

"My thing was that I was out of shape," Burkman said. "Before I went on 'The Ultimate Fighter,' I wanted to get my weight down and my buddy said, 'Hey, you should try Winstrol.' I didn't think that they were going to test us and so I took it. I started taking it three weeks out, and they called me up four days before ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and wanted me to take a test and I thought, 'Aw, sh-t. I don't think I'm going to pass this.'"

However, Burkman said the positive test caused him to make some major changes in his life.

"I was out of shape because I was in Scottsdale and I was drinking and I was partying and I wanted to take the steroids so I could get in shape faster," Burkman said. "I cut out the drinking and the partying, and I started to develop a more healthy lifestyle and stayed in shape so that I didn't need (PEDs) to cheat to get ahead. As the competition gets more fierce, people are going to look for an edge and that's what I was trying to do. I was trying to get that edge."

Having to tell the football players he coached about his positive steroid test was another experience that hit home for Burkman.

"I was coaching high school football and told my kids, 'Hey, I'm not going to be around this season. I'm going on ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and two weeks later, I showed back up and the kids asked what happened," Burkman said. "I had to sit the kids down and tell them what happened. It was embarrassing, but it helped me teach them a good lesson in life and it taught me a good lesson in life. I've become a better person, a stronger person and a better influence. Sometimes the worst things that can happen to you, you learn from them. They make you better and stronger, and I'm just lucky that happened for me."

Burkman was able to compete on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” earning a unanimous decision over Melvin Guillard in the quarterfinals before bowing out of the competition due to a broken arm. He went on to have a 5-5 record in the UFC against some of the top names at 170 pounds, including Jon Fitch, Karo Parisyan and Mike Swick.

As for Sonnen and his positive test, Burkman said it was just another indicator of how MMA is becoming more and more mainstream with its problems with performance-enhancing drugs.

"I think a lot of guys in professional sports take performance-enhancing drugs, whether they're doing it legally or doing it illegally," Burkman said. "I would've had no clue that (Sonnen) was taking what he was taking. Some people take them, some people don't. That's the way it is in all sports. I've known Chael for a long time … and when I trained with Chael, he wasn't doing anything. Guys get bigger opportunities, and maybe they feel like they need more things. One thing you can't take away from Chael Sonnen is that he's in the gym all the time busting his ass working hard trying to get better. It's too bad that athletes are getting put under this microscope now because whether it's steroids or whatever it is, athletes have been trying to get an edge one way or another for years and years and years. You can't take away how hard these athletes work and how hard they train, no matter what they're doing."

Long removed from his steroid use, Burkman is now trying to fight his way back to the UFC. He has gone 2-0 since being trimmed from the UFC roster following a unanimous decision loss to Pete Sell at UFC 90 in October 2008. The Sell loss was his third straight in the Octagon, but after taking time off to heal up from several injuries, Burkman rebounded with a first-round knockout of Brandon Melendez in November 2009 and followed that up with a unanimous decision over Jake Paul in April.

He looks to continue his resurgence Friday when he takes on Jordan Smith in the main event of the "Showdown Fights: Respect" event in Orem, Utah. Another win could see him return to the Octagon sooner rather than later.

"I've talked to Dana White and I've talked to (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva, and they knew where I was when I left the UFC," Burkman said. "They knew about my back and me being injured. Joe told me to just go get a couple of wins. Joe told me, 'We've always been happy with the way you fight. You've always put on a good show, and we'd be glad to have you back.' After this fight, I might take one more outside of the UFC. As long as things go well, I'll be back in the UFC. There's no doubt about that."

Sherdog is your friend lol

My best friend


Seems it was definitely steroids in Sonnens body, and he's been suspended for a year as per protocol. How disappointing, i have a new-found hate for Chael now, inexcusable.



http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/CSAC-Releases-Statement-on-Sonnen-Suspension-27047