Imagine being a professional race car driver and you race with an illegal engine.
Imagine what that feels like to go flying through the straightaway and turn and after turn leaving your competition in the dust.
Would that essentially be considered a form of cheating? Most would agree that yes, in fact that would be cheating. Why is it that in several sports from professional baseball to wrestling to football, steroid use is common?
If one is a professional athlete are they not to be considered better than the average Joe? Better naturally at their sport, certainly if anyone took a form of enhancement drug they too could become the next all American Olympian, correct?
Whether you agree with steroid use or not is not the issue that is causing so much grief in professional sports currently, the pressing debate is over steroid use in the world of professional mixed martial arts.While you may be pondering what is so unique regarding steroid use and professional sports, when you look deeper into the world of MMA you quickly realize there are some serious differences between MMA and baseball.
For example, MMA is not a point fighting sport, not a sport for the weak at heart and without a doubt, not a sport for those afraid to get injured. It is full contact every second of every round, making it one of the most dangerous professional sports ever televised.
While a fighter’s skill level and previous training will certainly play a role in the fights, having a killer attitude can and has won several fights over competitors that are far more skilled on paper. It is the fierce demeanor that one can contract from taking steroids that can achieve such a fighting attitude to help increase their drive and their endurance during a fight.
Without publicly naming a handful of fighters that are or have been noted as “users”, you can assume there are quite a few. The reason so many are bothered by this news of fighters using steroids as opposed to fans not being overly concerned when it comes to other sports, is due to the level of contact that is involved.
Think about this logically for a moment, a baseball player that is on steroids is not locked in a cage waiting to tear the pitcher apart from limb to limb. They are on a soft, cushy field of grass and dirt hitting a ball with a bat, not throwing their elbows into your skull as hard as they possibly can.
When you throw a fighter into the cage that is on enhancement drugs, they are instantly at an advantage. Their heart rate may be high enough to onset cardiac arrest, but should they survive the match their adrenaline is increased as well as their physical strength making them somewhat superior and favored in the match prior to the very first ding of the bell in round one.
It certainly does not seem fair does it? It isn’t just the men either, most would be shocked at the number of women that have been exposed and even fired for steroid use in MMA.The world will have to wait to witness professional MMA actually monitored for steroid use the way it should be.
For now, the big wigs with the UFC, WEC and Strikeforce all claim to be testing for these types of drugs, but the average MMA fan that has ever witnessed a few matches can easily point out the fighters that are still fighting, still being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per match for winning these bouts, with an illegal advantage.
War On The Mainland
Former UFC and Strikeforce heavyweight title challenger Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello believes his August 14 showdown against 2-time UFC
heavyweight champion Tim “Maine-iac” Sylvia, headlining “War on the Mainland,” is
the type of match-up MMA fans have been clamoring for when the power striking pair
battle for the vacant Powerhouse World Promotions (PWP), LLC Heavyweight
Championship, live on Pay-Per-View from Bren Events Center in Irvine, California.
AFO Redemption
Over 1000 fans were in attendance for the first show of 2010 and the AFO did not disapoint. visit www.afomma.com for photos and videos from the event.
MMA Workout With WEC Vet Jeremy Lang
Riley Kerestes of www.MMAStation.com got a chance to watch WEC veteran Jeremy “The Landlord” Lang during his intense workout only 13 days before his upcoming Feb 13th fight. If you’re going to get through this grueling workout you better come prepared to sweat.
