Given the provocative nature of the sport and the biases of some older, more conservative journalists, MMA needs to be more pro-active in dealing with this situation than any other league.
The UFC, despite its newfound popularity, is still viewed by a large contingent of uninformed sports journalists as nothing more than, as John McCain would say, "human cockfighting." While these journalists may never understand the complexity that is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or the all-around talent of a fighter like Randy Couture, they do have a firm grasp on steroids. After all, these are the men who for years covered the inadequacies in MLB drug testing. In the court of public opinion, journalists are judge, jury and executioner. They skillfully manipulate public perception of many issues by utilizing the public forum their column provides them.
Having said that, Dana White and the UFC need to take steps NOW to clean up this sport. The UFC currently leaves drug testing to the gaming commissions of the respective state where an event is being held. Some states, such as Texas, don't test at all, believing that it should be up to the promoter to drug-test their fighters. If the UFC desires acceptance as a mainstream sport, this clearly cannot continue. If Dana White truly wants this sport to overtake boxing in the hearts of fight fans across the nation, then he needs to prove to his fans that every fighter that steps into the cage is clean.
In UFC 73, the recent highly promoted Lightweight title fight between Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca, BOTH fighters tested positive after the fight. While any fighter testing positive is completely unacceptable, to have both fighters in such a high-profile fight test positive was shocking.This wasn't an under-card fighter trying to break into the big leagues, both of these fighters are veterans of the octagon who were fighting for a World Title Belt within the world's biggest MMA organization.
Their positive tests come on the heels of one of the godfathers of the sport, Royce Gracie, testing positive after his last match in June. Prior to Royce, former heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia tested positive...unfortunately the list of events such as these is a long one.
This is not an isolated incident, it is an infestation. Dana White must take decisive action, and he must do it soon. UFC has carved out a niche for itself and continues to develop a strong following around the globe. However, if it truly wants to continue expanding its fan base then it needs to prove to its loyal followers that the fighters are equally matched, and thus clean of any performance enhancing drugs.
Dana White needs to step forward and take it upon himself to ensure that all fighters will be tested at every event. If he does not, then not only will some of the current fans start jumping ship, but those sharks circling MMA in press boxes and newspaper columns around the nation are going to have a feeding frenzy.
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