Royce Gracie Fails Drug Test

Fozzy

From the Wrestling Observer:

Royce Gracie tested positive for decadurabolin, a steroid also known as Nandralone, and has been suspended for one year by the California State Athletic Commission. The test was taken prior to his match with Kazushi Sakuraba on 6/2.

No other details were available from the commission. The commission also revealed Sakuraba, Kim Min-soo and Brock Lesnar all tested negative for both steroids, diuretics, masking agents and street drugs from the same show.

Unlike Nevada, where the decision of Gracie beating Sakuraba would be reversed with such a test, California's commission does not have the power to overturn a decision.

Gracie was also fined $2,000. He will not be allowed to fight in any U.S. commission state until June 1, 2008, pending an appeal.

I'm a bit shocked by this, it's not even as if Royce needed any help in beating Sakuraba, who seemed unwilling to fight

On a wider scale, it seems like the use of drugs and steroids is on the increase in MMA. Maybe it's just as a result of the boom in MMA events, or maybe they've become more vigilant with their testing

I'd like to hear what Royce has got to say about this

dlofnep

Yeah I just read.. Saddening.

Nothingcompares

this type of news is always disappointing

MaeveD

Oh dear

septern

i can't understand why he would take steroids, especially now towards the end of his career after all he has done, risk getting caught and tarnish his record and reputation...........

i know its harder to maintain fitness as you get older, but surely his skills would have been enough to win that fight anyway, without having to take the chemical route. Nandrolone wasn't going to increase his skill/technique level.

V disappointing

cmb.

says a lot about where hus head is at - also really tarnishes his reputation as a founding father of mma

fatal

cmb. wrote:

says a lot about where hus head is at - also really tarnishes his reputation as a founding father of mma

Co-sign......

dent

Really don't want to believe this Has he made a reply yet.

Colm_OReilly

I would doubt that, in a relative sense, drug use in on the increase in MMA. Drug testing in MMA is approaching that of a WADA affiliated sport, which is a good thing. I would imagine the amount of meatheads using performance enhancing has increased, but in line with the amount of opportunities there are in the sport.

What's interesting is that the types of drug offences they're getting caught. Real basic chemicals and masking substances, no advanced tailor made cocktails that you'd see in other sports. This is down to the fact that MMA doesn't have the money, both in the sport and through endorcements to justify that risk.

Fozzy

dent wrote:

Really don't want to believe this Has he made a reply yet.

Sherdog.com report, "Calls to Gracie's representatives were not immediately returned."

Nandrolone does seem to be notorious for wrongly positive drug tests though. I remember reading about an athlete who had their nandrolone-positive test overturned because it was found that he had eaten beef which came from a cow that had been treated with nandrolone

j.griff

here is gracie's reply

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=7926

Fozzy

I'd like to believe that he didn't take anything. You just don't know though

arybvtcw0eolkf

I don't know about this one.

First off because I'm amazed when I hear that tested athletes are still using, and testing postitive for the AS which is both easiest to detect and which stays in your system and can be tested for for at least 18 months.

But some supplements contain 19-nor-testosterone which convert to extremly low levels of Nandrolone (Deca). But these supp's are well flagged and pleading ignorance doesn't cut it with me.

These days AAS use is a science and there's really no need for tested athletes to use Nandrolone (Deca), there's much 'better' (I'll use that word) steroids out there.

One final thing about Deca, its side effects are pretty unpleasent for most of us... It ain't called "Deca-dick" for nothing so the athlete has to use Testosterone plus HCG and/or Clomid with it (to keep the gonads family), all of which are also tested for.. It gets complicated after this.

I bet he'll be cleared.

dent

j.griff wrote:

here is gracie's reply

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=7926

Royce Gracie wrote:

"My good name is all I have and I do not want my fans to think that I would ever be [involved] with anything like this."

I'm reserving judgment until the appeal.

ch252

Im still not sure, you would think he would take a lot more pride in his sport and be a rolemodel for everyone else who fights bjj and I also read of how that drug can be detected up to a year after taking so maybe he took it for an injury or something as it is also used by many athletes for that purpose.

Clive

darragh-k wrote:

I also read of how that drug can be detected up to a year after taking so maybe he took it for an injury or something as it is also used by many athletes for that purpose.

Anyone who has a genuine need so take a prohibited substance, which is duly authorised by a medical doctor, can apply for an exemption.

dunkamania

300,000 - 2,500 = moral hazard

HammerHeadGym

I was online talking to a friend of mine in Brazil and when I told him about royce he said, Yeah, I know...The gracie diet.

Pride Fighter

Reminds me of Linford Christie in running. The same happened to him towards the end of his career. His achievements will be tainted now because of this stupidity on his part. He wanted to reclaim the Gracie name against Sakuraba, he only dragged it through mud. Quite saddening.

dunkamania

dunkamania wrote:

300,000 - 2,500 = moral hazard

Sadly, i find that kinda funny.

cavedave

Taking performance enhancing drugs is cheating. As is punching someone in judo or stealing the ball while you are on the ground in a rugby ruck.

Why is this form of cheating viewed as morally reprehensible when say a goalkeeper diving early is not?
1. It harms your health
Almost all professional sport does this

2. Drugs are bad
The guy who runs your pension is probably on ritalin (speed). The guy who wrote this software was on performance enhancing coffee. And those albums you listen to? The people playing them were really high. And any genetic tests for doping will be based on the work of Mulis who was on LSD when he discovered the test.

3. Will someone please think of the children?
This seems reasonable, but surely WWE is more juiced then anything else?

So my question is why is performance enhancing drugs so bad when spectation enhancing drugs are pretty much manditory?

Subbway

From sherdog.com

"In the wake of Royce Gracie's (Pictures) positive test for steroids, the California State Athletic Commission released details Monday that the Brazilian mixed martial arts icon showed such elevated levels of Nandrolone, a common anabolic steroid, that it could not be registered by the testing lab.

According to the CSAC, a normal person could potentially produce 2 ng/mL of Nandrolone, while an athlete following "rigorous physical exercise" could have a level of 6 ng/mL.

Both "A" and "B" samples provided by Gracie, said the CSAC, "had a level of over 50 ng/mL and we were informed that the level itself was so elevated that it would not register on the laboratory's calibrator."

Gracie, currently on vacation in Spain, told Sherdog.com last week that he has never taken steroids, and that he would file for an appeal"

Well... What can i say. Disappointing.

fatal

cavedave wrote:

This seems reasonable, but surely WWE is more juiced then anything else?

I love the way everything comes back to wrestling:rolleyes:
At this point I think that it would be appropriate to point out the "drugs wellness programme" which has been monitoring all of the WWE talent for drug abuse.If it was really the case that they were more "juiced then anything else",I think that WWE would cease to exist.So please just because others have a body that you don't have the dedication to work towards,stop assuming without no concrete proof that it is juice related

cavedave

f it was really the case that they were more "juiced then anything else",I think that WWE would cease to exist.So please just because others have a body that you don't have the dedication to work towards,stop assuming without no concrete proof that it is juice related

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artists_who_died_of_drug-related_causes

11 mentions of wrestling and drug related deaths. Juiced might have been the wrong word but most of these guys seemed to have been on enough drugs to kill a mule shark.
no concrete proof? How many people do you want to drop dead before they are 40 for you to think something might be amiss?
http://espn.go.com/magazine/assael_20020606.html
http://prowrestling.about.com/od/whatsrealwhatsfake/a/wrestlersdeaths.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2004-03-12-wrestling-list_x.htm
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/03/19/wrestlers/index.html

So please just because others have a body that you don't have the dedication to work towards

Wow with hard work and dedication I could be dead too! Sign me up

Colm_OReilly

Dave,

Your argument fell apart with your sarcy answers in the last post.

But as to using drugs being morally reprehensible I agree with you on your points. But the fact remains drug use in sport is cheating. And a soccer/rugby player would be fined by the disciplinary body if they punched someone. Or a penalty could be given.

Drug use are fouls that cannot be detected or called during the course of play, so they need to be tested elsewhere. Furthermore, they're considered a more serious foul than offside or passivity, so they carry harsher penalties.

There's a nobler answer in me somewhere, but I must return to spreadsheets.

cavedave

Your argument fell apart with your sarcy answers in the last post.

Just because something is going to kill you does not make it morally reprehensible. Climbing is allowed even though it is dangerous.

Drug use are fouls that cannot be detected or called during the course of play, so they need to be tested elsewhere. Furthermore, they're considered a more serious foul than offside or passivity, so they carry harsher penalties.

Both of these are true and probably fair.

My problem is that a footballer can admit in his autobiography to deliberately attempting to maim and ruin the ability to earn a living of someone else and be lionised while a swimmer who cheats a drug test becomes a social pariah.

Fozzy

cavedave wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artists_who_died_of_drug-related_causes

11 mentions of wrestling and drug related deaths. Juiced might have been the wrong word but most of these guys seemed to have been on enough drugs to kill a mule shark.

Just to point out, none of those people died while working for WWE, and most of them never did anyway

I think part of the reason people are more condemning of drug use than other forms of cheating is that it is a calculated, thought-out process. You don't just take steroids on the spur of the moment, obviously some consideration and deliberation goes into it. So it's as if the steroid taker has decided that it's ok for them to cheat. Compare that to a footballer who in the spur of the moment hits his opponent. I'm sure most people, if allowed some time to think about it, would not hit anyone. But in a split second you can do something you regret (but perhaps glamourise later on to make money on book sales!). There's also the element of trying to hide something. Most forms of cheating can be seen by whoever is watching the sport, but you would be oblivious to any steroid usage just by watching a sport. And fans don't like being fooled

arybvtcw0eolkf

This is just my opinion.

But since Pro-Wrestling is just very well paid play acting, taking Steroid's is done just for the image and not cheating. How can clown's cheat?.

Are those pro-wrestler guys juicing, damn right they are. And no I couldn't be arsed providing links to prove my argument, their juicing.

Its gas how everytime a high profile athlete tests positive for steroids we (and a host of other boards) have these discussions. Its simple, people at all levels of competition will take steroids to gain an advantage over their competitors and then when their caught we've to listen to their sh*t arsed excuses.

Take it on the damn chin if your caught.

cavedave

I think part of the reason people are more condemning of drug use than other forms of cheating is that it is a calculated, thought-out process.... There's also the element of trying to hide something. Most forms of cheating can be seen by whoever is watching the sport, but you would be oblivious to any steroid usage just by watching a sport. And fans don't like being fooled

Fair points, well made

Khannie

Mairt wrote:

Take it on the damn chin if your caught.

Exactly. I'm sick of them saying "omg! it was my supplement" or "omg! how could I possibly have tested positive for XYZ?????". STFU with your stupid arsed excuses and admit you got caught. People will respect you more for it.

r3nu4l

That is sad tbh.

If he is guilty then I suppose there are reasons for it. If you think about it he was always at the top of the pile but now that the sport is more popular and he is getting older there are bound to be younger, better guys out there that could eventually whoop his ass,* it happens to the greatest sportsmen if they stay too long in their sport. Maybe the fear of getting beaten by a relative nobody someday was too much or him and rather than bow out gracefully he did this.

I'm surprised because the most obvious move for him on retirement would have been as trainer/TV pundit but I'm not sure he'll get much respect now if he really is guilty. Let's hope that the appeal can sort it once and for all, although at this stage it looks as though he is guilty!







*I know the fanbois will probably not like me saying that.