Roids in PRIDE AND UFC - How Many Were/Are Doping, Worst Offenders, Who is Clean?

Doping is getting to be a big issue in the sport.

Obviously the two most high-profile roiders in the UFC are Chael and Reem.

But they're certainly not the only ones. And I'm no expert on the subject, so I'd like to know more about it.

How big a problem is cheating by roiding in the modern UFC?

Just how common was it in PRIDE?

Who are the most obvious roiders in both organizations?

And which guys seem like honest competitors?

:hat

 

:think

Yeah, I'd be surprised if BJ was dirty. Maybe not so much now, but in his 20s anyway. Just seems like the type of personality who wouldn't do it simply because he knows he's gifted enough to beat anyone's ass anyway.

And with regard to Wanderlei and the Brazilians - I have noticed that they all seemed to look really musclebound. But how much do you reckon they were roided as compared to the likes of Sonnen and Reem? I mean, PRIDE Wanderlei looked like a cartoon picture of a cage fighter, UFC Wanderlei looked like a regular musclebound guy. Same with PRIDE Shogun vs UFC Shogun. :conf

And Randy Couture - I've never heard anything about him juicing, but I'd be interested to hear about it. As I said, I don't know much about the subject, which is why I'm asking. :good

:hat

 

:think

Well, I certainly can't say he was roiding. I'm not aware of any evidence saying that he is, and I'm sure as hell no expert in the field. :good

It's just that I've seen a couple of his fights in PRIDE where he was tearing guys up, and then in the UFC he's never looked close to that. He didn't look bigger in PRIDE, but he seemed much more compact and solid in his physique. To me it seems like he looks a lot softer in the UFC, and he doesn't seem to have the same kind of physical strength. I mean, Jon Jones just ragdolled him with ease wherever the fight went - can you see anyone throwing PRIDE Shogun around like that? :conf

With Wanderlei it seems pretty clear that he was roiding his ass off. And Cro Cop, while still a very physically solid guy in the UFC, wasn't the musclebound marble statue that he was in PRIDE. But I know very little about the subject, so I can't call any of them a drugs cheat. I do know that others are aware of a lot more, so I made a thread asking the question. :good

:hat

 

Well my impression is that it's basically taken as a given by most observers. :conf

I mean, he was a longtime champ in an organization whose contracts flat out stated "you will not be tested for performance-enhancing steroids."

He was 10x more aggressive as a fighter in PRIDE, he looked far more physically imposing and his performances were much better. It's my understanding that most MMA observers accept that Wanderlei was roided. :good

:hat

 

Performances aside, he just wasn't anywhere near as aggressive in the UFC. He was still a slugger, but he simply didn't have that sense of barely-controlled animalistic rage. Outside of the cage he was a notorious hothead back in the day, but in the UFC he quickly mellowed right out and got the reputation of being a pretty nice guy. Some of that obviously comes with ageing into his 30s, but I've heard it attributed to no longer getting roid rages as well. :yep

Anyway, I am only going by what I've heard from guys who know more about it than I do. :conf I think it's regarded as a pretty common assumption/knowledge that Wandy was juicing and juicing pretty hard. :good

:hat