UFC commentator Joe Rogan recently appeared in an Onnit.com sponsored podcast with Joey Diaz, and discussed the recent suspension of now retired light heavyweight fighter by the Nevada Athletic Commission, for avoiding a PED test. Wand received an indefinite suspension, which is widely interpreted to mean a lifetime ban from fighting. Silva retired bitterly very shortly beforehand.
“I just think the penalty is way over the top,” said Rogan as transcribed by David St. Martin for MMAFighting. “It’s one thing if you want to tell the guy he’s suspended for a year. Pretend as if you caught him for using steroids. If he got caught and it was his first time being caught it would be a nine month suspension. Instead of doing that they prohibit him from fighting for a f—ing life. A whole life. He can’t be 80 and apply for a license for running from one drug test. I think that’s ridiculous.”
“You can’t do it like that. You’re sending a message that you have ultimate power and you’re unreasonable. That’s not reasonable. It’s one thing if they said, ‘Hey, we’re going to suspend you for two years’ like Chael Sonnen.
“Two years is big, but to say ‘You can never fight again, ever, because you ran [from] a test.’ He f—ed up. He definitely f—ed up. That’s so unprecedented. It’s so crazy. Even if they said they were going to suspend him for two years, man, that’s harsh as s—. There’s a big difference between a guy running from a drug test and a guy beating the f— out of his kid with a stick or a guy knocking his girlfriend out in an elevator. Those are different things. That’s like some evil s—.”
“These [fighters] have been juking the system for a long time. Chael was the tip of the iceberg and when he got popped it sent a real message to everybody.
“They want to clean that sport up and that’s the way to do it. The way to clean it up is to randomize drug testing and to do the most stringent level of testing imaginable and that’s what they’re doing right now.
“These guys keep getting caught and when they get caught they’re saying ‘Everyone’s on it.’ Vitor said that. He said like 90 percent of these guy use when they’re in camp. He would know better than any of us, so if Vitor’s saying something like that, he’s not known as a liar, you’ve got to think there’s something to it. If you want to nip that s— in the bud there’s only one f—ing way. You’ve got to randomly test these dudes.”
(2:18:48 mark)
