09.09.2006, 16:15
Juiced up
Bonnar could be finished after positive drug test
Bonnar could be finished after positive drug test
By JOSE RODRIGUEZ, MANAGING EDITOR
It's not exactly the baseball steroid scandal.
There will be no internationally-televised hearings where evasive multi-millionaires can give half-answers and flat-out denials only to be caught red-handed down the road.
It's not the Tour de France where 12 of the thirteen riders who tested positive for drugs actually had medical certificates allowing them to take banned substances. The poor sap who actually won the race, Floyd Landis, obviously didn't get the memo about the doctors' notes.
And -- with all apologies to WWE fans -- this isn't wrestling, where for years a blind eye was turned to rampant steroid use until the wrestlers/actors actually died from the abuse.
So with that in mind, when Ultimate Fighting Championship's Stephan Bonnar -- who has tested positive for the banned substance Boldenone -- steps before Nevada State Athletic Commission later this month, there will be a real price to pay if he is found to have cheated. It will likely signal the end of his UFC career.
The popular Chicago scrapper tested positive following the August 26 fight against Forrest Griffin at UFC 62.
The drug he's accused of taking is used to add lean muscle mass and is mostly prescribed by vets to treat horses on the mend.
How that got into Bonnar's pee samples is for Bonnar to explain.
But no one should read too much into the positive test result.
Without making any excuses for cheaters, this is nothing more than a pimple on the still growing sport.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission -- which sanctions UFC events in Las Vegas -- and the UFC itself have shown in the past they have little use for juiced-up fighters.
Former UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett was stripped of his title by the UFC and suspended by the NSAC. He tested positive back in 2002 after a fight with UFC legend Randy Couture.
In 2003, current heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia lost his belt when testing positive after a win over Gan McGee. He was also fined $7,500 and suspended four months.
For his part, UFC president Dana White is waiting to see how the whole controversy with Bonnar shakes out.
"Obviously, we need to wait and hear Stephan's side of the story," White said on the UFC website.
But he also added that he supports any punishment doled out by the NSAC.
So if it is proven Bonnar cheated, my feeling is we may have seen the last of him in the UFC.
Two straight losses and now a black mark on his character.
But perhaps the most undeniable lesson in the Bonnar saga comes in that the same fight he tested positive for, is a fight he ended up losing.
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