1st Steroids in the UFC

[marie curie]

Sean Sherk and Hermes Franka (who faught each other in UFC 73) both tested positive for steroids that night. So far Sherk is staying quiet and has filed an appeal, and Hermes released a statement saying that he hadn't had a fight in a while and that was the way he paid his bills, and that he was injured, so the only way he could be ready was to take something.

They are getting fined plus 1-year suspensions. As for the belt, well my guess is that there will be Kenny Florian/BJ Penn/Jens Pulver-ish fight for it.

Dana White must be all kinds of angry at these guys.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=6848

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

[username8517]

Royce Gracie tested positive for steroids a month ago

http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation/2007/06/mma_legend_royc.html

[gzk]

Royce wasn't in the UFC at the time though.

[Iron Arahat]

Honestly to be expected in sports where money is the bottom line. These guys are looking for an edge, I would be quite surprised if there was many more using steroids. Now that the UFC has taken steps to become more widely accepted I will bet thaqt there will be more stories such as this as they clean things up.

[username8517]

Royce wasn't in the UFC at the time though.

True, but I wouldn't be suprised if he wasn't juiced during his last UFC fight with Hughes

[bushido_man96]

That is too bad. This is going to be an issue for the MMAs now for years to come, I think, just like with any other professional sport.

However, it is important not to base the integrity of the sport off of the poor judgements made by a few individuals. There are still good people in the sport.

[ps1]

I have a feeling this won't be the last of this. The testing policy is really new and I suspect we will see alot of steroid use coming into play. I hope I'm wrong.

[marie curie]

I just found out that though Royce wasn't in the UFC, actually Stephan Bonnar tested positive before (hence he hasn't been fighting) and got a 9 month month suspension.

I think that it was inevitable, but sad nonetheless.

[TigerDude]

Getting caught being tested for the fight is nothing short of stupid. There are plenty of ways to avoid detection when you know the date of the test. If you want real testing, go to the random-type used in many international sports now.

[marie curie]

Totally agreed.