The dust-up over Sherk and Franca’s positive drug tests continues. In an open letter on his Web site, Josh Gross, executive editor of Sherdog (the top MMA Web site), calls out Dana White specifically, and the UFC more broadly, for not policing their own athletes’ drug use. He points out how Dana White is a well-known control freak, and usually doesn’t let any part of the business rest in anyone else’s hands. Why, then, does White let the onus of drug-testing lie on the state commissions? It’s a fair point. Some states’ commissions don’t require drug testing, so is Dana White staging competitions in those states to skirt the tests? Maybe that’s a bit of a conspiracy theory, but Dana is fanatical about making the UFC palatable to the masses. As Barry Bonds’ agent will surely tell you, a suspected drug problem does not help with your marketability. No tests = no positive tests = no problem!
Dana supposedly responded in a letter on the Underground Forum . (No confirmation on if it is White, but it sure seems like him, from the bad grammar to the malapropisms. It’s holier than THOU, sweetie, not holier than now.) He basically says that he is too busy to worry about this stuff, and that he can’t be responsible for what each fighter does in their training. He also makes a few personal attacks on Gross, and on Sherdog.
Welllll, Dana my love, yeah, you are a little bit responsible. You have a sport built on the backs of these fighters, so you do have to police what they have done to their bodies. You are in the unique position of preventing some of the problems that drugs have caused the MLB and the NFL. Step up now, and you’ll be a hero. Pass the buck, and you will lose control of the brand you have worked so hard to develop.
