UFC RANT

UFC RANT
Sunday January 20 2008
UFC RANT....... Current mood: annoyed

First and foremost, what I am about to say, is my opinion. I will probably offend someone but thats ok. That is what comments are for, right?? I am sure there will be others with a different opinion, but I welcome any opinions that those who read this, want to share.With that said, here goes......I am a huge fan of any, and all Mixed Martial Arts, no matter of the organization it comes from. As I was watching UFC 80 last night, something happened that I just couldn't ignore any longer. This is something that has happened in the past and I am almost certain it will happen in the future. It bothered me then, and it bothers me even more now.I will start off with a riddle, and if you are a mma fan , this shouldn't be too hard.What do Tim Sylvia and Sean Sherk have in common??????Answer: Title Holders that have had to give up their belts due to testing positive for banned substances!Giving up their belts is not what bothers me. What bothers me is the fact that after a short suspension, they are able to fight for that title upon their return to the organization. I think that it is total crap, that after getting caught, they are able to come back and have a shot at the title in their first fight after the suspension!It is not fair to the other fighters who legitimately win their fights! I am not saying that they won because of the banned substances or that the fighter who lost, would have won if their opponent wasn't using the banned substances. I am merely saying that I have no proof of knowing that the reason they hold those titles isn't because of the banned substances. Would they have the belt if they hadn't used banned substances? We don't know that, because we have no evidence how many times they fought using the illegal substances.I am not sure of the edge they get on their opponent when using the substance, and no one else can either! That is why they are illegal. small or large, they still get an edge over their opponent.I believe that if a fighter is caught using illegal substances, they need to work their way up in their weight class. Why should they get a title shot when we don't know how many of those fights were legitimately won?We don't know that had they not used banned substances, they would have won all of their fights on their way to that title. They may have won all those fights anyway, but because of the banned substances we can't know that for sure. The question will always remain in my head however, that they might have lost a few of those fights, had it not been for those banned substances. There is just no way for anyone to know the answer to that question. Whether the banned substances helped or not, who knows?If I were the opponent who lost to the title holder, whether it was their first fight or their title shot, I would always wonder if the outcome would have been the same.I really think that those fighters who are caught using the banned substance, need to fight those opponents again, legitimately.While substance abuse in any sport is negative, this is not a few people on a team doing it. This is one person who chose to cheat, to have an edge over their opponent.I also feel that the punishment for using banned substances should be harsher. These fighters know that if they get caught, they are only suspended for a year and get a title shot upon their return. The risk is not severe enough to prevent fighters from using illegal substances.Some people may argue that if athletes are punished for a more significant amount of time, there will be no one left to compete in any sport. But a harsher punishment might make it harder to take the risk.That being said, I hope BJ Penn teaches Sean Sherk a lesson! I found it humorous that after Penn's fight he said he wasn't impressed with BJ Penn, does he honestly believe that any fan is impressed by a fighter who cheats because he is afraid that he can't win on his own????? I don't know if Sherk was saying that for promotional reasons, he may have been, but it still made him look like a big joke! If a fighter feels he needs to use illegal substances to win, save it for the soap opera world of the WWE, NOTHING in that sport is real!I am finished ranting now, and like I said previously, this is MY OPINION, and if you don't like it or you are offended by it, I guess that is just too bad!I would love to hear other people's opinions, whether you agree with me or not. So feel free to leave me a comment!