Being a trainer to UFC fighters and other pro mixed martial artists gives me a behind the scenes look at the fight game that a lot of people aren’t privy to.
Like what it’s like to be inside the octagon looking out.
Yeah, I know, I’m a lucky dude and I’m grateful for all of the good luck that’s come my way.
After watching the Strikeforce card, where Fedor fought closer to how he looks, and seeing Josh Barnett and the ever-hypertrophying Alistair Overeem a few times during the night got me thinking about the topic of drugs in MMA.
Now you may be wondering…
“Is it common for top MMA fighters to use banned performance enhancing drugs (PEDs)?”
Yes.
Just like in every other sport where people stand to make a lot of money from being the best.
But when it comes to MMA, where one fight can be the difference between signing a six figure contract or getting canned, and where the outcome of the fight rests solely on your shoulders once the first round starts, the pressure to win causes many fighters to either dabble in or go whole hog at improving their game with PEDs.
For the record, I do not encourage the use of banned PEDs.
Heck, I barely recommend legal OTC supplements, other than fish oil, whey protein, greens powder and maybe some glutamine/BCAA’s when training gets heavy.
With that being said, I’m going to talk a bit about the main types of PEDs that are being used by MMA fighters today and then give you my solution to this controversial topic.
Here we go…
1. Anabolic PEDs
Anabolic PEDs include your various steroids and growth hormones.
Fighters take these to increase their muscle mass and strength, increase aggressiveness, increase pain tolerance and improve recovery from injury.
Unfortunately, whenever you mess with hormones, you run the risk of some serious long-term health concerns, cancer to name one.
Some might say it’s about how much you take and how long, but there are so many things that mess with our hormones nowadays (plastics, pollution) that willingly exposing ourselves to powerful substances like GH is asking for trouble down the road.
The downfalls include bacne, gyno, small balls, cancer and an uncontrollable urge to drive your head and or fist through the closest wall.
Sign me up. NOT.
2. Blood Doping
Blood doping is the most common PED in endurance events such as cycling and marathon running.
That’s because the goal of blood doping is to improve endurance by increasing the percentage of hemoglobin in your blood.
Think of hemoglobin as little envelopes that carry oxygen to your muscles.
The more envelopes, the more oxygen gets delivered.
There are 2 main ways to blood dope: take a substance called Erythropoietin (EPO), which triggers an increase in hemoglobin, or by drawing out your own blood, removing some of the plasma (liquid), resulting in a relatively higher concentration of hemoglobin, then injecting the blood back into your system.
A natural way to increase hemoglobin is to train at altitude, or at least live at a high altitude.
However, living at altitude will never result in hemoglobin levels that can be produced through EPO or doping.
Downfalls include high blood pressure, possible organ failure (heart, kidneys), and risk of cancer.
Another woo-hoo.
3. Uppers / Stimulants
These can range from as simple and common as caffeine (usually only an ungodly amount would be considered illegal) to cold meds like sudafed (ephedrine), to even more powerful stimulants like amphetamines.
Obviously, these work to increase mental alertness and energy by stimulating the nervous system.
Side effects include rapid heart beat, insomnia and the desire to dance all night wearing goofy clothes and waving glow sticks around.
4. Diuretics
Finally, diuretics are generally taken to help a fighter make weight by helping them pee out all of the liquid in their body.
Hold on a sec, I have to pee just thinking about it.
…
…
OK I’m back.
Problems with diuretics include muscle cramps, kidney failure and heart failure.
OK, so there you have the 4 main types of drugs being used by MMA fighters to enhance their performance.
Here’s the thing…
Unless you’re in the UFC, you really, really don’t need to be taking PEDs.
If you’re fighting in smaller shows or you just want to get a couple of fights in to test yourself and say you did it, then for most opponents, all you need is 3 things:
- You’re comfortable with all of the basics, you have good defense and you have your go-to moves (a great resource if you want to master the basics is Jeff Joslin’s MMA Quickstart program, see www.MMAQuickStart.net)
- You’re relaxed
- You’re in great shape (shameless plug for my Ultimate MMA S&C program)
If you have these 3 things, then you’re good to go and will come out of your amateur career with a winning record.
Seriously.
When I go to small local shows, most fighters on these shows are seriously lacking in at least 1 of these 3 areas, so if you’ve got all 3 bases covered, you’re golden.
Now if and when you get to the UFC, taking drugs or not is a tough decision to make and you can cross that bridge when you get there.
I don’t judge these guys based on my sense of morality, I mean, these guys have families to feed, bills to pay and they’re dealing with a lot of pressure to win, so it is a tough choice to make.
I would just rather not have drugs being the reason why one fighter beats another.
Eric’s Solution to the Drug Problem in MMA
It’s simple.
The UFC can split off into 2 leagues: one that’s all natural and has super strict testing, and one where ANYTHING GOES.
In the Doped-Up Fighting League (DUFL), they could enhance safety by educating the fighters on the best ways to use the drugs so they don’t do stupid things like take too much causing their hearts to implode
Think about the buildup to the fights – you could have DUFL Unleashed where they show the behind the scenes drug injections and catch the champ throwing his dog across the room because he barked at the doorbell.
The entertainment!
Then, the All Natural Fight League would be where the true superstars reside, the true athletes.
These guys are confident in their abilities, respectful of their opponents and they want to be good role models to the kids of tomorrow by showing what hard work, discipline and dedication are honourable standards to live by vs. winning at all costs.
I, for one, would watch both leagues and think this is a brilliant idea.
The DUFL would probably make for more ‘entertainment’ but the ANFL would be more satisfying to watch, kinda like the difference between watching MMA and actually participating in it – it’s not entertaining to get your ass tapped out or punched in the nose, but somehow, it’s oddly satisfying.
How about you? What do you think of this idea?
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