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12-15-2012, 11:01 AM
TUF 16 FINALE'S NELSON PUSHES FOR TESTING, MITRIONE NOT SURE VADA RIGHT CHOICE
BY JOHN MORGAN ON DEC 13, 2012 AT 11:00 PM ET
LAS VEGAS – Regardless of where you personally stand on the issue, it's clear the controversy surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs in MMA isn't going away anytime soon.
This week, it's The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale headliners Roy Nelson (17-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and Matt Mitrione (5-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) who are at the center of the discussion, as "Big Country" offered his opponent a complimentary series of pre-fight drug screens by the Las Vegas-based Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Mitrione promptly turned down the offer, earning Nelson's scrutiny in the process.
"It's a sponsorship," Nelson told MMAjunkie.com at Thursday's pre-event media workout session. "It's free. There's no reason why not to do it.
"You pee everyday, so why not have somebody (collect it), unless you're shy of what you got down there? Maybe that's the reason."
VADA conducts random drug screens of enrolled athletes and utilizes tests not traditionally performed by most state athletic commissions, including carbon isotope radio (CIR) testing and screens for human growth hormone and erythropoietin (EPO). It costs several thousand dollars to enroll, however, the group previously has offered sponsorships to a handful of boxers and mixed martial artists.
When prompted about his choice on a conference call earlier this week, Mitrione didn't exactly make a tremendous case for why he declined the offer. He called the tests "a distraction" and said he was too dialed in on his training camp to bother with the process.
But at Thursday's session, he opened up a bit more on the politics surrounding VADA and their often-aggressive approach, not to mention the consistent endorsement of former steroid distributor Victor Conte, which Mitrione said leads him to question the organization's true motives.
"I think it's a hot topic right now, but I feel that the shystiest of all shysty people is associated with that program," Mitrione said.
Mitrione, a six-year veteran of the National Football League, went on to wonder why it was Nelson, himself, who called with the VADA sponsorship offer rather than VADA President Margaret Goodman.
"If Roy wants to bring it up to me, why doesn't Roy bring it up to them and then they call me directly?" Mitrione asked. "Why would Roy call me directly and be like, 'Hey, here's the VADA stuff'? What the f--- kind of a president of a company would say, 'Hey, just go ahead and handle that yourself'? You want to get the attention from it? Want kind of bulls--- is that?"
Mitrione was also angered by an incident involving VADA's handling of Shane Carwin, who was originally expected to face Nelson before injury forced him to withdraw from the card. VADA's official website briefly posted a defamatory story allegedly stating that Carwin's only potential contribution as a coach on "The Ultimate Fighter 16" was to teach athletes how to dope. The statement was later removed from VADA's site, and the intern who was said to be responsible for the posting was reportedly terminated.
Still, it was enough for Mitrione to remain wary of VADA's true intentions.
"The stuff that they did with Shane Carwin, all the slanderous bulls--- they did with him and put it on their same website – you're supposed to be an objective, third-party testing organization?" Mitrione asked. "Go to hell. You hurt yourself more than you help yourself. And then you try to make a witch hunt, when somebody's like, 'I don't have time.'
"I took a fight on three-weeks' training notice and then fight week, and you want me to go piss in a cup at your leisure? You try to match up my schedule. I don't even know where I'm going to be."
For his part, Nelson insists he wasn't trying to single out either Carwin or Mitrione, and he certainly doesn't want them to feel as if any disrespect was intended. Nelson insists he's simply hoping to help clean up the sport, and he'll continue to do so in subsequent fights.
"I don't want to be the one that picks on Shane because everybody said I picked on Shane," Nelson explained. "So guess what? Matt, I got it free for you, too. Whoever I fight next, you've got it free, too. As long as I can get it covered, don't be scared when I ask you.
"If you're fighting Roy Nelson, don't be scared. You're going to get hit, or you might get hit with something else. It's one of those things. It's either a yes or a no. It's real simple. It's either you pee or you don't pee."
Nelson insists he doesn't receive any financial compensation for his endorsement of the VADA program outside of the complimentary testing. He also said their is no motive for choosing their services over more recognized programs like the World Anti-Doping Agency or the United States Anti-Doping Agency outside of VADA's willingness to cover the cost.
"The thing is it's voluntary," Nelson said. "The thing a lot of people get confused is that VADA doesn't pay me. They're a non-profit. They're a 501 (c)(3), so people donate to them. If you want to help clean up our sport, just donate to them. What they do is they cover the cost.
"I tried to call USADA. USADA is like $30,000 or $40,000. If VADA wants to pay $30,000 or $40,000 to clean up our sport, I'm all for it. They basically help the UFC. It's a way to clean up the sport. It's not an agenda to pick on people. It's basically to so something better for our sport."
The number of athletes using PEDs in MMA is impossible to know for sure. Estimates range from just a few rebellious cheaters to the majority of the sport's elite athletes and everywhere in between. With that in mind, Nelson said he's going to continue to utilize VADA and anyone else willing to assist in his crusade.
"I used to get off fighting guys I knew were on the juice," Nelson said. "Then having a family and a wife, you've got to look it as they're taking money from you. The more I look at it from a business standpoint, I've got to look out for my kid. If my kid wants to MMA in the future, what's he walking into? It's for me to help clean up the sport for when he comes around to go, 'Hey, I want to do this. I want to be just like dad.'
"Hey, I'm going to be natural. I'm going to put all the hard work in vs. 'Hey, let me just stick a needle in my ass.'"
Meanwhile, Mitrione said contrary to any claims others may be making, he certainly supports the efforts to eradicate PED use in MMA. He's just not so sure the folks involved in VADA are the right ones to carry the effort's flag.
"I signed on the bottom line to fight in Nevada; Nevada can test me whenever the hell they want," Mitrione said. "I'm a clean athlete. I'm proud of being a clean athlete. I'm not guilty of s---, and I don't have to prove to anybody that I'm not guilty.
"If I get popped for a drug test or something like that, OK, then bust my balls on it. Be like, 'Well you should be doing this.' Cool. Otherwise, go to hell."
The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale takes place Saturday at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The evening's main card airs on FX following prelims on FUEL TV and Facebook.
BY JOHN MORGAN ON DEC 13, 2012 AT 11:00 PM ET
LAS VEGAS – Regardless of where you personally stand on the issue, it's clear the controversy surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs in MMA isn't going away anytime soon.
This week, it's The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale headliners Roy Nelson (17-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and Matt Mitrione (5-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) who are at the center of the discussion, as "Big Country" offered his opponent a complimentary series of pre-fight drug screens by the Las Vegas-based Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Mitrione promptly turned down the offer, earning Nelson's scrutiny in the process.
"It's a sponsorship," Nelson told MMAjunkie.com at Thursday's pre-event media workout session. "It's free. There's no reason why not to do it.
"You pee everyday, so why not have somebody (collect it), unless you're shy of what you got down there? Maybe that's the reason."
VADA conducts random drug screens of enrolled athletes and utilizes tests not traditionally performed by most state athletic commissions, including carbon isotope radio (CIR) testing and screens for human growth hormone and erythropoietin (EPO). It costs several thousand dollars to enroll, however, the group previously has offered sponsorships to a handful of boxers and mixed martial artists.
When prompted about his choice on a conference call earlier this week, Mitrione didn't exactly make a tremendous case for why he declined the offer. He called the tests "a distraction" and said he was too dialed in on his training camp to bother with the process.
But at Thursday's session, he opened up a bit more on the politics surrounding VADA and their often-aggressive approach, not to mention the consistent endorsement of former steroid distributor Victor Conte, which Mitrione said leads him to question the organization's true motives.
"I think it's a hot topic right now, but I feel that the shystiest of all shysty people is associated with that program," Mitrione said.
Mitrione, a six-year veteran of the National Football League, went on to wonder why it was Nelson, himself, who called with the VADA sponsorship offer rather than VADA President Margaret Goodman.
"If Roy wants to bring it up to me, why doesn't Roy bring it up to them and then they call me directly?" Mitrione asked. "Why would Roy call me directly and be like, 'Hey, here's the VADA stuff'? What the f--- kind of a president of a company would say, 'Hey, just go ahead and handle that yourself'? You want to get the attention from it? Want kind of bulls--- is that?"
Mitrione was also angered by an incident involving VADA's handling of Shane Carwin, who was originally expected to face Nelson before injury forced him to withdraw from the card. VADA's official website briefly posted a defamatory story allegedly stating that Carwin's only potential contribution as a coach on "The Ultimate Fighter 16" was to teach athletes how to dope. The statement was later removed from VADA's site, and the intern who was said to be responsible for the posting was reportedly terminated.
Still, it was enough for Mitrione to remain wary of VADA's true intentions.
"The stuff that they did with Shane Carwin, all the slanderous bulls--- they did with him and put it on their same website – you're supposed to be an objective, third-party testing organization?" Mitrione asked. "Go to hell. You hurt yourself more than you help yourself. And then you try to make a witch hunt, when somebody's like, 'I don't have time.'
"I took a fight on three-weeks' training notice and then fight week, and you want me to go piss in a cup at your leisure? You try to match up my schedule. I don't even know where I'm going to be."
For his part, Nelson insists he wasn't trying to single out either Carwin or Mitrione, and he certainly doesn't want them to feel as if any disrespect was intended. Nelson insists he's simply hoping to help clean up the sport, and he'll continue to do so in subsequent fights.
"I don't want to be the one that picks on Shane because everybody said I picked on Shane," Nelson explained. "So guess what? Matt, I got it free for you, too. Whoever I fight next, you've got it free, too. As long as I can get it covered, don't be scared when I ask you.
"If you're fighting Roy Nelson, don't be scared. You're going to get hit, or you might get hit with something else. It's one of those things. It's either a yes or a no. It's real simple. It's either you pee or you don't pee."
Nelson insists he doesn't receive any financial compensation for his endorsement of the VADA program outside of the complimentary testing. He also said their is no motive for choosing their services over more recognized programs like the World Anti-Doping Agency or the United States Anti-Doping Agency outside of VADA's willingness to cover the cost.
"The thing is it's voluntary," Nelson said. "The thing a lot of people get confused is that VADA doesn't pay me. They're a non-profit. They're a 501 (c)(3), so people donate to them. If you want to help clean up our sport, just donate to them. What they do is they cover the cost.
"I tried to call USADA. USADA is like $30,000 or $40,000. If VADA wants to pay $30,000 or $40,000 to clean up our sport, I'm all for it. They basically help the UFC. It's a way to clean up the sport. It's not an agenda to pick on people. It's basically to so something better for our sport."
The number of athletes using PEDs in MMA is impossible to know for sure. Estimates range from just a few rebellious cheaters to the majority of the sport's elite athletes and everywhere in between. With that in mind, Nelson said he's going to continue to utilize VADA and anyone else willing to assist in his crusade.
"I used to get off fighting guys I knew were on the juice," Nelson said. "Then having a family and a wife, you've got to look it as they're taking money from you. The more I look at it from a business standpoint, I've got to look out for my kid. If my kid wants to MMA in the future, what's he walking into? It's for me to help clean up the sport for when he comes around to go, 'Hey, I want to do this. I want to be just like dad.'
"Hey, I'm going to be natural. I'm going to put all the hard work in vs. 'Hey, let me just stick a needle in my ass.'"
Meanwhile, Mitrione said contrary to any claims others may be making, he certainly supports the efforts to eradicate PED use in MMA. He's just not so sure the folks involved in VADA are the right ones to carry the effort's flag.
"I signed on the bottom line to fight in Nevada; Nevada can test me whenever the hell they want," Mitrione said. "I'm a clean athlete. I'm proud of being a clean athlete. I'm not guilty of s---, and I don't have to prove to anybody that I'm not guilty.
"If I get popped for a drug test or something like that, OK, then bust my balls on it. Be like, 'Well you should be doing this.' Cool. Otherwise, go to hell."
The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale takes place Saturday at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The evening's main card airs on FX following prelims on FUEL TV and Facebook.