Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has always been critical of the drug testing system in place in the UFC.
St-Pierre told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Monday.
“I knew [PED use] was a big problem. I knew for a long time, and it was bothering me and bothering me more and more. People act like it’s a big secret. People know it’s a big problem. It’s not like a race or a game. I’m not surprised so many guys have gotten busted. [There are] going to be other names coming up. If they keep doing the right testing, [there are] going to be other guys coming up [positive]. I believe this is the tip of the iceberg. A lot of fighters are going to be caught.”
St-Pierre spoke to theglobeandmail.com about former middleweight champion Anderson Silva testing positive for two steroids.
GSP deems that PEDs are a huge advantage in a fight and compared them to having a weapon:
“I feel very sad for Anderson Silva,” said GSP. “I don’t want to talk about one individual, I want to talk about the system. The system is a big problem in the sport of mixed martial arts … It’s something that I believe the UFC and fighters should confront and deal with it. Because if you don’t deal with it right now, it’s going to get worse and worse and worse.”
“I believe the athletic commission is doing a much better job now that it did in the past because they do random testing. But they still have a lot of room for improvement.”
GSP was not impressed that the NSAC did not get the results for Silva’s pre-fight test for 22 days, after the fight with Nick Diaz.
“The fight should be canceled because it’s cheating, it’s a biological weapon that you have,” said GSP. “If I fight someone with a knife and the promoter and the organization know I have a knife. I’m bringing a knife into the fight, they should not let me fight because I’m carrying a weapon.
“A performance-enhancing drug is the same thing, it’s a biological weapon. It’s an advantage that you have over your opponent that you should not be able to compete with. Because you put the health of the competitor in jeopardy.
“We’re not playing golf, we’re not racing, we’re fighting. Every time we fight we put our lives, our well-being in jeopardy.”
