The NSAC Does it Again at UFC 167

Time and time again the judging of UFC fights by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) appointed judges comes into question. Some fights are scored worse than others but when a major title is on the line like last Saturday at UFC 167 between champion Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks you need to be on your A-game. Watch the video of UFC president Dana White even blasting the NSAC for the recent decision in favor or St-Pierre. Dana is famous for saying, "don't leave it in the hands of judges" to his fighters and for good reason.

Anyone Else Suspicious of GSP?

I know, innocent until proven guilty but I have to wonder if Georges St-Pierre is on the juice and I am certainly not the first to be suspicious. With just a week to go before his title defense against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on November 16th I thought this was a good time to discuss recent red flags. Initially the St-Pierre camp wanted to use an alternate drug testing company, had unusual testing questions and more that even raised the eyebrows of UFC president Dana White. According to sources at BJPenn.com both fighters originally agreed to be tested by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but oddly GSP's attorney asked questions like what they test for and wanted to have predetermined dates for testing. GSP's team then suggested using Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) but the Nevada State Athletic Commission even suggested the use of WADA. On top of that, according to Hendricks manager, Ted Ehrhardt, GSP has a connection with VADA. These are some very suspicious actions and questions from the GSP camp. GSP has passed a few tests already as seen in second picture above that he recently tweeted. People don't normally go out of their way to show they are clean which makes me even more suspicious that GSP is trying to hide something. Although we have to give him the benefit of the doubt, don't forget other sports MVP's have lied to the sporting world before only to be caught later on.

The Ladies of MMA on the Juice Too

MMA fighters often claim high usage rates of steroids, PED's, TRT usage and more among their fellow fighters which I wouldn't be surprised about being such a physical sport. What does surprise me is the number of female fighters doing the same. Carina Damm has recently been linked to this seedy side of the sport for a second time. Damm was the first female MMA fighter to be suspended in the United States for steroid use after testing positive for Nandrolone back in 2008. Just recently she submitted a pre-fight urine sample that was found to be some other substance than urine for her bout this past June against Jessica Eye which she lost via unanimous decision. Damm was fined $550 and suspended six months by the Ohio State Athletic Commission. Just like her last suspension, Damm went back to fight in her native Brazil who seem to have lax testing standards and do not have to honor suspensions from other countries. With Cris Cyborg and Carina Damm found guilty and several female fighters drawing suspicion I wonder how rampant steroid and PED usage is in Women's MMA?

Biogenesis Scandal Expands to Other Major Sports

Biogenesis, the Miami anti-aging clinic tied to performance enhancing drug (PED) use by baseball players has wider list of professional athletes tied to them than first believed. Initially thought to be tied to just MLB players, now reports from SB Nation and others are linking NBA, MMA, boxing and tennis players. Former Biogenesis employee Porter Fischer divulged the information about the companies owner Tony Bosch and who they provided PED's to in an interview with ESPN's "Outside the Lines". Ryan Braun in baseball has already accepted a season ending 65 game suspension from MLB. So who will be next and from which sport?

Was the Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman Fight Fixed?

Two weekends ago we saw one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time Anderson Silva get upset via TKO by Chris Weidman in the second round of their UFC 162 middleweight title fight. I have never heard so many people call a fight fixed before but I honestly don't think this one was or at least it wasn't supposed to go down with an early TKO. Some say Silva was bored with fighting, some said he wanted to spend more time with family and yet others even claimed a secret meeting before the fight where the belt was bought from Silva in exchange for $1M. Silva was horsing around like he usually does and eventually he would get caught like this. Quite a few people predicted the upset which had Silva as a 2 to 1 favorite and highly doubt that many people would have insider knowledge of such a fix if it were truly fixed. Click here and listen to the end of this pre-fight interview in which Silva predicts Weidman as champ which does make me at least question this fight. UFC president Dana White quickly rebutted these accusations in several interviews that can be read here and viewed here. So what do you think? Was it fixed?

Brian Bowles Fails Post Fight Drug Test

Brian Bowles is one of the most recent MMA fighters to fail a post fight drug test. Bowles failed his UFC 160 post fight drug test due to elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone levels. The official limit set by the Nevada State Athletic Commission is a ratio of 6-to-1 but Bowles came in more than 20-to-1. Bowles has been temporarily suspended and has the right to appeal. If upheld he could be fined and suspended. Bowles did lose this fight via TKO in the second round.

UFC Legend Don Frye Alleges Brock Lesnar Fights were Fixed

UFC legend Don Frye alleges that both Randy Couture and Frank Mir threw their fights with former UFC champion Brock Lesnar. He claims the UFC hand fed Lesnar easy fights, pumped him up and then fixed his big fights. Lesnar is a wrestler with the WWE so he has that type of background and the UFC did make a boatload of money off him. Check out the second half of the video to hear Don's claims.

MMA Fighter Lavar Johnson Fails UFC 157 Post-Fight Drug Test

UFC fighter Lavar Johnson failed his UFC 157 post-fight drug test according to the California State Athletic Commission. Johnson failed due to elevated testosterone levels which was confirmed by a secondary carbon isotope ratio test and was consistent with steroid use. This doesn't bode well for his future in the UFC who recently released him.

A Canadian Loophole for Georges St-Pierre?

The norm for MMA fights is to allow a one pound allowance at their official weigh-in except for title fights where both fighters must be the exact weight or below. A recently leaked video shows the UFC's Senior VP of Business and Legal Affairs and Assistant General Counsel, Michael Mersh, state to Nick Diaz and camp ten minutes before weigh-in that they will allow a 0.9 lb weigh-in allowance at UFC 158. He goes on to say that 170.9 will still count as 170 even. They question why they were not told before with no solid answer. Was Georges St-Pierre slightly overweight prior to his UFC 158 weigh-in? With such a highly anticipated fight was the UFC giving special treatment to one of their biggest stars and to keep the fight a title fight? Nick Diaz did weigh in at 169 while Georges St-Pierre weighed in at 170. Was St-Pierre truly at 170 or higher? He always does appear to be bigger and roided out for his fights. Hopefully this video does not get deleted.

The Question of Transgender Athletes

If you are a MMA fan you might have heard the news over the past few days of the first transgender fighter Fallon Fox. Fox is a professional fighter with a 5-0 record with all fights coming to a stop in the first round. News broke of Fox's gender change days after her last victory at Championship Fight Alliance. Fox born a man underwent gender reassignment surgery along with supplemental hormone therapy over six years ago. Currently the International Olympic Committee sides with the new gender after two years of hormone replacement therapy. The MMA world is buzzing and both sides are making their opinions heard. Curious what our readers think, should Fallon Fox be allowed to compete in MMA against other women or does she have any advantages?

Leonard Garcia Robbed of Victory at UFC 155

Did the Nevada State Athletic Commission institute its own form of karma for past ridiculous decisions for MMA fighter Leonard Garcia? Garcia has seen some crazy decisions in recent years fall his way but this past Saturday he clearly was the victor against Max Holloway at UFC 155 but ended up losing on the judges score cards via a split decision. Fixed karma?

Also on the card was a horrible score from judge Adelaide Byrd who scored the fight between Jamie Varner and Melvin Guillard as 30-27 in favor of Guillard. Varner clearly won this fight and did get the split decision nod but this score in particular lit a fire under UFC president Dana White when he went off at the post fight presser saying, "It's unbelievable. 30-27 for Guillard? Crazy, right? You could never watch a fight in you f---in' life and not score that 30-27." If you're sick of seeing these clowns from the Nevada State Athletic Commission ruining MMA judging please contact them via the contact information at the bottom of their website.

MMA Fighter Stephan Bonnar Fails UFC 153 Post Fight Drug Test

MMA fighter Stephan Bonnar has reportedly failed his post fight drug test from UFC 153 on October 13th. Sources state Bonnar tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone. Bonnar also failed a post fight drug test for boldenone back in August 2006 at UFC 62. Bonnar lost both fights and recently retired from the sport of MMA following his loss at UFC 153.

MMA Fighter Rafael 'Feijao' Cavalcante Tests Postive for Steroids

MMA fighter Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante failed a recent drug test following his win over Mike Kyle in May. The failed test was due to the synthetic anabolic steroid Stanozolol which is commonly used by athletes. The California State Athletic Commission overturned his latest victory on May 19th over Mike Kyle to a no-contest, fined him $2,500 and suspended Cavalcante for a year. Cavalcante's camp has appealed and awaiting a hearing date.

UFC Fighter Alistair Overeem Tests Positive for Elevated Testosterone Levels

Two weeks in a row discussing steroids or testosterone issues in mixed martial arts. Random testing might be doing it's job of weeding out some of the cheaters in this sport. The latest to test positive for elevated levels of testosterone is UFC fighter Alistair Overeem just weeks before his title shot against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146. Although the fight has not been officially taken off the card it looks doubtful as Overeem would have to appear before the Nevada State Athletic Commission to explain his elevated levels to obtain a license for the fight. Overeem's testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) level was greater than 10/1 far above the allowable 6/1 in the state of Nevada. Disappointed to see this fight canceled but good to see this caught beforehand in case Overeem won by illegal means to become a new champion.

Do You Believe Cyborg?

It's good to see an athlete take responsibility for their mistakes but they never admit to knowingly taking anything illegal and always make an excuse or play dumb and say they had no idea. I just don't buy it, do you? Just admit you cheated and move on. In this case Cris "Cyborg" Santos, a mixed martial arts fighter claims she had no idea she was taking steroids and thought it was something for weight loss. Then she goes on to state that steroids don't make you stronger or give you an advantage. What, are you kidding me? Cyborg is a beast that completely destroys any opponent that she faces and many believe it was obvious she has been on steroids for a long time. I guess there is no certain proof of that and you have to give someone the benefit of the doubt but you have to question cases like this. Her recent positive test for steroids resulted in a one year ban from mixed martial arts and stripped of her title belt.

Another Blown Call at UFC 142

Usually we see the uneducated boxing scorers fix the outcomes of MMA decisions but this time we blame the referee for the blown call at UFC 142 last weekend in Brazil. Fighter Erick Silva made the most of his UFC debut by throwing a nice knee followed by some ground and pound on opponent Carlo Prater for an early referee stoppage in round one. When the official decision was announced that Silva was disqualified by referee Mario Yamasaki the crowd erupted in anger. Yamasaki DQ'd Silva for illegal blows to the back of the head. Shortly after announcer Joe Rogan went through the replay and strike after strike noted the each hit was legal. UFC president Dana White also criticized the call and continues to urge the commissions to start using instant replay before making these ridiculous errors in judgement and scoring or as we like to say, fixes! Silva was fighting in his home country with a raucous crowd behind him and also a heavy favorite at the sports books, go figure.

MMA Fighter Cris Cyborg Santos Tests Positive for Steroids

Last week news broke that Strikeforce women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg Santos tested positive for stanozolol metabolites. This had to be a question for quite some time as Cyborg is freakishly strong, ripped physique and dominates anyone who gets in the cage with her. As of now she has been suspended for one year, fined $2,500 and stripped of her championship belt which may also see the dissolution of the weight class at Strikeforce.

UFC Star Chris Leben Suspended for One Year

Performance enhancing drugs and pain killers are a major problem in mixed martial arts according to many fighters and others behind the scenes.  Two weeks ago the Ultimate Fighting Championships announced that long time fighter Chris Leben had been suspended for one year following a failed drug test after UFC 138 in which he was defeated by Mark Munoz.  Leben has had issues in the past with a suspension in 2008 after his failed drug test for stanozolol and this time for oxycodone and oxymorphone.  He could have been using these to mask the eftects of injury or to take the grind of training and fighting.  Will the UFC bring him back, only time will tell.

MMA Judges Control Outcomes

With another UFC event upon us tomorrow let's first revisit the last event, UFC 131.  Yes, you guessed it the judges completely bombed on another decision.  Darren Elkins was awarded a unanimous decision over Michihiro Omigawa.  Not only was this baffling but one judge called it 30-27, all three rounds in favor of Elkins when clearly this was not the case.  So lopsided that UFC president Dana White said, "I don't know what the fuck in the world that guy was seeing.  He should never judge a fight again, ever."  More baffling is the fact that the judges for the first time had cageside monitors to get closer views of the action.  Guess Dana White is right when he says to his fighters don't leave it in the hands of the judges.  Maybe Dana realizes this fixing by the judges is making a mockery of this truly awesome sport.

MMA Judges Blow it Again

On Saturday April 16th at Bellator 41 we witnessed another controversial MMA decision.  The controversial decision went to Joe Warren who defeated Marcos Galvao.  Not only was it questionable but one judge ruled 30-27 for Warren which was clearly wrong.  MMA fans took to forums to express the displeasure of continued bad judging which many are calling fixed.  Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney refutes the notion that this match was fixed and agrees MMA judges need to be better educated on the sport and judging.  MMA judging just seems so off at times how can it not be fixed?