Steroids in MMA: Ken Shamrock is Actually Right
By: Oliver Saenz Posted On: July 16, 2010 at 12:31pm
Normally, the only strong emotion I feel for Ken Shamrock nowadays is pity. Despite having wins over only a handful of legitimately great opponents, Shamrock is viewed as a pioneer of the sport. Now it’s undeniable that he’s a shadow of his former self. Shamrock recently made waves when he jumped into the shark tank that is the “steroids in MMA” debate. Shamrock, who has openly admitted to taking steroids in the past, recently blasted the MMA community in general for “playing God” and ostracizing large, bulky fighters just because of their size, and not paying attention to smaller weight classes that may not have all that excess bulk but still possess some very muscular physiques. Many have dismissed it as the inane ramblings of a steroid-fueled past-his-prime fighter, who is immediately disqualified from any sort of authoritative position based on his past history of abuse. Yet for all his past transgressions, and as weird as this makes me feel…I’m beginning to agree with Ken Shamrock on how the MMA community at large views steroids in MMA.
Once you get past all the rambling, Ken Shamrock’s main point is this: we’re too quick to judge who is on steroids based on the stereotypes we’ve come to associate with steroids. And I think he has a point. The simple fact of the matter is that anyone can take steroids, and everyone reacts to steroid use in a different way. Some may put on muscle mass; others may add more definition and tone to their ripped physique. I truly believe that, for the most part, what the MMA community thinks is steroid abuse is nothing more than a strict diet mixed with God-given talents, an insane work ethic, and a jumble of perfectly legal supplements.
In addition to that point, here’s another: the tests don’t lie; it’s as simple as that. Everyone in the UFC and Strikeforce has gone through the “whiz quiz” at one time or another, many of them repeatedly, and any who are on steroids, or any sort of illegal substances for that matter, have always been found out. The Athletic Commissions of the United States have done a great job of finding out who is on what, and punishing them accordingly. I just can’t see how many of us still find the need to argue with cold, hard, scientific proof that Brock Lesnar, or Alistair Overeem, or a host of other supposed steroid junkies aren’t actually on the juice.
I remember once in an interview, Brock Lesnar was once again asked if he ever took steroids. After emphatically stating that he never took them and has never failed a drug test in his entire life, and that includes his days as an NCAA wrestler, a World Wrestling Entertainment pro wrestler, and a UFC fighter, the interviewer responded with “Not failing a drug test doesn’t mean you’ve never taken them.” Brock Lesnar’s reply was something similar to “Then what the hell else proof is there?”
That feeling of infuriating frustration always creeps into my thoughts and prevents me from keeping a level head when MMA fans come out and blindly accuse some of my favorite fighters, like Brock Lesnar or Alistair Overeem, of being on steroids. That blind, unfathomable need to ostracize a fighter just because you don’t like them, while fully ignoring any evidence to the contrary, is ignorance at its best.
So I ask this, fans and friends: who are you to judge? Me, I don’t know any fighter intimately. I can’t say what Brock Lesnar or Alistair Overeem do in their free time because I’ve never met them and have no idea how they spend their days. The only thing I have to go on is the drug tests that always come back clean. But so many others seem to adopt the “guilty until proven innocent” approach. And that truly saddens me. Ken Shamrock…never thought I’d say this again about you, buddy…but when you’re right, you’re right.
So where do you find yourselves in this debate, fans and friends? This one is another topic that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so opinions please.
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Comments
imho, almost every top tier fighter or wanna be top tier fighters uses some form of
performance enhancers..they all just cycle thru them, they must have a good schedule and
a good chemist hahahha, ones that get caught are just not following the schedule.
also, i don’t think there’s a test for HGH, or what about what the cyclist do?
blood doping? man, if you wanna cheat in sports- ANY sports, there’s a way to
do it without getting caught..
look at pac-man, you are telling me that a person
that used to fight at 106lb or something like that,
can gain almost 1/2 their weight to fight at 150+ AND
STILL RETAINS their SPEED/POWER/STAMINA? dude must be a GENETIC FREAK!!!
that be like frankie edgar or bj fighting at 155 now,
and a few years later, fight at SAME OPTIMAL level at 225lb! as a heavy weight..
come on. how is that possible without outside help?
That’s exactly the kind of logic I can’t wrap my head around. That’s all based on assumption, none of that is based on fact. All we really have to go on is the scientific evidence or personal testimony. I don’t know any top-level athletes, I think they’re entitled to the benefit of the doubt before we begin ostracizing them and potentially damaging their careers. Hate to say it again, but in the court of public opinion, it really is guilty until proven innocent for a vast majority of people. And that just really annoys me.
I’d be fine with it if there was any proof in any of it. Jose Canseco is widely regarded as a pile of filth, but it’s pretty irrefutable that he was right when it came to steroids in major league baseball. People admitted to it. Investigations were held about it. Findings were determined, results were analyzed. All that fancy stuff involved in determining that little thing called “proof”.
Until we get that kind of cold, hard proof, I’m not going to unfairly point a finger at anyone.
If I had my own life to wager, Id bet that Lesnar used and Overeem uses or recently quit. The body is capable of a lot, but without the help of steroids it doesn’t do what Overeem’s body has done in recent years. Who am I to judge? A guy who watched that interview with Lesnar in which his initial response to the steroid question was ” I’ve never failed a test.” Hardly a denial.
By the way. I’ve never failed a drug test either, Brock
I don’t believe Brock has took steroids..hes just a beast who works his body like a machine.
Overeem should get tested,,he like doubles his weight and he ripped beyond ripped.
ps / Many pac man is a douche for not wanting to get tested, i love mayweather calling him out
HAHA to people saying they dont think brock has used steroids! LMFAO! get a grip of yourselves, there is no possible way a human body can get that size without the help of steroids, terribly sorry but HAHA!
If I asked someone whether they took steroids and their answer is they never failed a test, I’d take that as a confession they took steroids. Likewise, if I ask someone whether they’ve ever murdered someone or broken into a house, if their answer is, “I’ve never been arrested,” I would take that as a confession.
A confession that would send them to jail? No, of course not. But a confession nevertheless.
I still think UFC needs to have two divisions, one for open steroid use and one for no steroid use, just like power lifting has (or had 20 years ago or so when I followed that stuff).
I don’t have a problem with two people who use steroids competing with each other any more than I do with 81 people with steroids on on football team competing with 81 people on another football team that takes steroids.
It’s about fairness, not whether someone takes it.
lol @ best flight simulator, brock obviously used em in the past, he wrestled at like 300 pounds… and for the reem, doubled his weight? he used to fight at 205, walked around at bout 215-220 in everyday life now hes about 250, so he gained 30 pounds in like 3-4 years? I believe that yes he used steroids cuz of how his face got bloated, but still people have to get over it and realize he didn’t make that big of a jump…