UFC Champion Sean Sherk Tests Positive for Steroids

[Bouncer]

http://www.nbcsports.com/ufc/1798504/detail.html

Less than two weeks ago, UFC President Dana White expressed surprise that the fans filling Sacramento's Arco Arena would boo the groundwork on display in the Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca lightweight title match.

Certainly the 14,000 people in attendance couldn't have known what was to come, but if they would have, their boos likely would have been even louder.

Both Sherk and Franca tested positive for steroids following the test, according to the California State Athletic Commission, and are now in danger of being suspended for a year.

Sherk, the lightweight champion who is known for his ripped physique and intense workouts, tested positive for nandrolone, a naturally occurring substance in the human body. His sample tested at 12 nanograms (ng) per milliliter (ml), more than six times as much as a normal human and twice as much as an athlete undergoing rigorous training.

Franca, meanwhile, tested positive for drostanolone, an artificial steroid commonly used for bodybuilding.

According to CSAC executive officer Armanda Garcia, both fighters had both their A and B samples tested, and both resulted in positives.

Sherk has already submitted an appeal, and will state his case in front of the commission on August 6, while Garcia said Franca is unlikely to appeal.

"Before the commission, I am essentially the prosecutor, and the commission is the judge and jury and has the authority to modify or rescind, or accept the fine," Garcia said.

The penalty for a positive steroid test in California is one year and a $2,500 fine. However, the one-year ban would be upheld in any state with an athletic commission that oversees mixed martial arts, meaning if the suspension is upheld after the hearing, the names of both Sherk and Franca would be placed on the National Registry's suspension list. As a result, neither could fight anywhere in the U.S. for 12 months. While those penalties are unenforceable overseas, the UFC would likely not allow a suspended fighter to participate in a match anywhere.

In their fight, Sherk outlasted Franca to retain his lightweight title in a five-round bout. While Franca did more damage with several well-timed knees to the head, Sherk controlled the fight with his takedowns and groundwork.

This isn't the first time a UFC champion has tested positive for steroids. In September 2003, Tim Sylvia defended his belt by beating Gan McGee, but later tested positive for steroids and was stripped of the title.

Garcia added that all 18 fighters on the UFC 73 were tested and no one else tested positive for either steroids or drugs of abuse.

[blm]

Not surprised. That boy is one massive dude for a 155 pounder. It's competition...everyone is looking for an edge.

[blm]

Drostanolone is masteron, correct? You should be able to stop that about 2 weeks before testing and test clean, no?

[beefcake]

What is with these dumb fucks all taking nandralone? Don't they know how long the detection time is on these? They should just let everyone juice and see how good the fights will be then. LOL

[ROCKILLER]

They should just let everyone juice and see how good the fights will be then. LOL

I'm sure most of them do, these guys or their trainer screwed up somewhere letting the stuff get out of their system.

[blm]

I'm sure most of them do, these guys or their trainer screwed up somewhere letting the stuff get out of their system.

yup

[Mr I]

This follows Royce Gracies and;

This news comes on the heels of a CSAC report that revealed 28 violations, including nine for steroids, of its anti-doping policy from March 31, 2007 through July 6, 2007. Seventeen of the 28 violators were fighters in mixed martial arts contests.

[Bouncer]

This pisses me off. Notice what the first line says. "Knew it was all fake". I want to see the fat slob that wrote the article train like the UFC guys and then say it was fake. Fat mother fucker.


http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgns

Sean Sherk had the gall to go on a national television show and brag about his training routine when he knew it was all fake.

Hermes Franca had the temerity to ask those he perpetrated a fraud upon for forgiveness.

They should, and will, be punished severely for testing positive for anabolic steroids following their July 7 match for the UFC lightweight title in Sacramento, Calif.

The California Athletic Commission released the results of tests on Thursday that showed Sherk tested positive for nandrolone and Franca tested positive for Drostanolone after their title match at ARCO Arena, in which Sherk retained his title via unanimous decision.

The commission fined each man $2,500 and suspended them both until July 5, 2008. The Fight Network reported that Sherk will appeal the findings.

The issue, though, is much bigger than the fighters. Nearly every mixed martial arts card, it seems, has at least one fighter who fails a test for steroids.

The sport is dirty. And don't be surprised to find that the problem is much more widespread than it's seemed.

This isn't, after all, just a few isolated miscreants. I suspect a lot more of those sculpted bodies are chemically enhanced.

UFC president Dana White is on vacation in Tahiti, but he released a statement saying the company did not condone illegal drug use and would support the commission.

Well, duh.

Of course it will.

It has to, because the UFC is trying to get itself regulated in all 50 states. A little more than a year ago, the UFC hired the highly regarded Marc Ratner away from the Nevada Athletic Commission to be its vice president of regulatory affairs.

Imagine the reception Ratner would receive were White not to publicly support the commissions in their drug-testing endeavors.

And while it's important to note that this is not a UFC problem, as the largest and most powerful entity in the sport, the burden falls squarely on the UFC to find a solution.

The first step in that solution has to be random drug testing not only after a fight but also at any point a fighter is under contract to the UFC. If a fighter won't sign a waiver and agree to random testing, then he doesn't fight for the UFC. Period.

Steroids users who know they're being tested cycle on and off in order to maximize the benefits and avoid detection, which is why the true percentage of users in MMA is undoubtedly much higher than is known.

And while fans may debate the impact of a baseball player using steroids, the simple fact is this: In the fight game, a fighter's body is a weapon. And if he is able to artificially enhance that weapon through the use of illegal drugs, he has the potential to seriously harm an opponent.

Imagine what will happen to the sport if a fighter later found to be steroid-addled seriously injures – or kills – an opponent with a punch.

Any chance the sport had at mainstream acceptance would be ended on that day.

One of the great things about MMA fighters is that they seem to appreciate their role in the sport's growth. These are not illiterate cavemen beating each other to the death with clubs.

They are, for the most part, intelligent and articulate athletes who are committed to growing the sport. The sport is not the barbaric exercise many of its critics who haven't tried to learn it like to believe.

Whether one enjoys MMA is a personal choice, but it's flat ignorant to ignore the fact that the athletes are highly skilled who have undergone years of training. The sport has a far better safety record than boxing, both in deaths (zero in sanctioned competition) and in significant, long-term injuries.

It's hard to believe that, just as the sport is getting widespread acceptance among the media, fighters would continue to use steroids.

Sherk could not be reached for comment, but Franca released a self-serving statement to the MMA Weekly Web site on Thursday in which he admitted taking the steroid to help an injury heal faster.

He said in his statement that he injured an ankle two months before the July 7 bout and asked UFC officials if it could be postponed. He said he was told that would not be possible, so Franca said he needed to fight because he lives paycheck to paycheck.

"As a fighter, though, even at this level, I live a simple life and I literally live from fight to fight," Franca said in his statement. "Not getting a paycheck for another few months and losing my chance to fight Sean for the title was overpowering."

And so Franca went on to explain how he painfully made the decision to use a drug he knew was illegal.

He did it, he said, so he could fight and provide for his family.

It's a noble intention to want to provide for one's family, but Franca conveniently misses the point that he made himself much more dangerous to his opponent by using steroids and could have significantly injured him as a result of the increased power he gained.

White needs to address the situation immediately. Not only did he have Sherk and Franca test positive on the card, but two others fighting at UFC 73, Nate Marquardt and Stephan Bonnar, had tested positive for steroid-related offenses in the past.

That means that four of the 18 fighters on the card, or 22 percent, had used steroids at some point in their career.

Does anyone doubt that there were more but who just haven't been caught yet?

If White doesn't take strong, decisive action to address this rapidly growing problem, he's essentially condoning the fighters' usage by turning the other way.

Historically, UFC has stripped champions of titles when they've turned up on the juice. Both Josh Barnett and Tim Sylvia were stripped of the heavyweight belt after testing positive. Following precedent and stripping Sherk of the title would at least be the right first step.

Too many states don't taste for steroids. The UFC has to administer drug tests itself for any of the fights it stages in the United Kingdom because MMA is not regulated there. The UFC holds too many cards in too many venues for White to take any chances.

He needs to spend a lot of time on his vacation formulating a plan to attack this epidemic.

No less than the future of the sport he loves is at stake.

[beefcake]

More usual bs where people think steroids turns you into a god without any hard work involved.

[Ashop]

HOPEFULLY NO WITCH HUNT IN mma/ufc like is going on in other sports. why does dana even test?
hes cutting his own foot off.

[YellowJacket]

Because the NSAC requires it.

[Ashop]

Because the NSAC requires it.

so it is mnadatory? whoi is this NSAC?

[YellowJacket]

so it is mnadatory? whoi is this NSAC?

Nevada State Athletic Commission... but to compete, its require, regardless of state. Dana tests to bring credibility to the organization. An organization which is under constant scrutiny for being labeled as "human cock fighting"

[coffee-guy]

Nevada State Athletic Commission... but to compete, its require, regardless of state. Dana tests to bring credibility to the organization. An organization which is under constant scrutiny for being labeled as "human cock fighting"

Pardon my ignorance on the subject but what has kept bodybuilding under the radar screen from things like this for so long???

[Bouncer]

Pardon my ignorance on the subject but what has kept bodybuilding under the radar screen from things like this for so long???

bodybuilding has never seriously tried to become a main stream respected organization. if they did they would have to go through testing and public pressure like the UFC and it would fail.