The UFC’s heavyweight division isn’t the same as it was more than a decade ago. Gone are the days of the larger-than-life, massively bulked-up contenders. Fighters with such statures have become increasingly rare in the last few years. They were prominent during the last decade, but Joe Rogan wants to see those kinds of fighters again in Dana White‘s promotion because of the current state of the division. “I don’t want to see fat heavyweights. Get the f— out of here,” said the 57-year-old recently.
Well, there were a number of fighters who looked like Greek gods, as their physiques were out of this world. However, that all ended when aggressive testing for PEDs became a thing because those fighters using banned substances massively contributed to their chiseled physiques. And while Joe Rogan claims it’ll be “fun” to watch such “jacked” heavyweights, fighters may not be able to do that with these anti-doping agencies looking out for defaulters.
One veteran who knows all about PED use is UFC legend Chael Sonnen. He’s been pretty vocal about it despite facing severe repercussions after failing multiple drug tests. “I had more juice than Tropicana,” Sonnen once stated about his use of PEDs. Recently, ‘The American Gangster’ laid bare all the different substances he’d been using on a couple of occasions during an interview with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn.
Mike Bohn presented a couple of pictures. The first one was when he arm-wrestled Chael Sonnen several years ago before fighting Wanderlei Silva, and the other was from the former UFC fighter’s final MMA fight against former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. In both instances, Sonnen admitted to using growth hormone, synthetic erythropoietin, and human chorionic gonadotropin, all of which are banned by the anti-doping agencies.
“I’ll tell you in honesty what performance enhancers I was on. [The first picture], this was before Wanderlei Silva. That’s in New York. You’re looking at a little touch of EPO. You’re looking at something called HCG and a little growth [hormone],” Chael Sonnen stated. “[Against] Lyoto Machida, we got a little HCG going on there. The problem was [that] getting a hold of EPO was difficult… I can’t appreciate a guy that doesn’t respect his career and himself enough to stick a needle in his a** every now and then, if you know what I mean.”
MMA: UFC 148-Silva vs Sonnen II Jul. 7, 2012 Las Vegas, NV, USA UFC fighter Chael Sonnen in the ring prior to his fight against Anderson Silva not pictured during a middleweight bout in UFC 148 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Las Vegas Nevada USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMarkxJ.xRebilas-USAxTODAYxSportsx 6368330
While it’s frowned upon to be labeled as a PED user, Joe Rogan believes it could inject life back into the heavyweight division. But PEDs are a huge no-no because they’re illegal—and a lot of the time, people on the receiving end of strikes from fighters on PEDs can encounter serious injuries. Remember Michael Bisping against ‘TRT Vitor’ Belfort. Dana White recently took a step to stop their use in the grappling world as well with a big signing, Mikey Musumeci.
Mikey Musumeci aims to eliminate PED use with UFC CEO Dana White
One of the brightest stars in the BJJ world, Mikey Musumeci, signed with the UFC last year, which was big news in the grappling world. While addressing his signing with Dana White’s promotion, Musumeci claims that BJJ hasn’t been considered a professional sport for a long time. Why? Well, he claims the space includes athletes who engage in PED usage. The 29-year-old does not seem to have any love for these athletes, and he hopes to use UFC as a launchpad to eliminate steroids and PEDs from the sport.
“It hasn’t been a professional sport, jiu-jitsu, with people—they blatantly use [performance enhancing drugs],” Mikey Musumeci told the media. “They’re not athletes. They really don’t have the values of martial artists. I really just want to change that and give us this platform at UFC and become professionals.”
So, we have one side that does not like the use of PEDs, and then we have the other side, Joe Rogan, who wants to have “fun” watching juiced UFC heavyweights fight. Which side are you on? It’s an interesting topic to talk about, and we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below.
The post As Joe Rogan Advocates for “Jacked” Heavyweights, UFC HOFer Comes Clean on Extensive PED Usage appeared first on EssentiallySports.
