GSP: UFC monopoly, doping policy among reasons for hiatus

[CPT]

http://www.tsn.ca/mma/story/?id=441205

Mixed martial arts star Georges St-Pierre says the Ultimate Fighting Championship's hesitant position when it came to stiffer drug testing greatly influenced his decision to take a break from the octagon.

St-Pierre said Tuesday a lack of strenuous drug testing was one of the factors that led to his decision to step away from the sport.

"It bothered me greatly, it was one of the reasons I decided to step aside," St-Pierre said Tuesday.

He vacated his welterweight title and took a hiatus from the sport in December, citing a need to lead a normal life and deal with mental fatigue.

The 32-year-old confirmed when asked by a reporter that his employer, the UFC, did not support him when he proposed drug testing in the weeks preceding his Nov. 16 fight against Johnny Hendricks.

St-Pierre stepped away following UFC 167 where he won a controversial split decision over Hendricks. After that fight, he said he needed time away to sort out some personal issues.

The star fighter was prudent in his comments Tuesday, being careful not to point fingers at any one person or fighter. He stressed he wasn't accusing anyone of steroid abuse.

St-Pierre said he wanted to bring the sport he loves to "another level" of testing and help those who are honest in the sport.

"I tried to change things, and unfortunately, maybe for money reasons, maybe for image, they were not ready to do that," St-Pierre said. "I tried to (bring about) change in a very diplomatic way and it didn't work so it's unfortunate, but I believe it will happen sooner or later."

More articles:
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/1/14/53 ... a-monopoly
http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/1/14/53 ... othered-me

Via Reddit:
http://en-us.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/ ... ne_of_the/

Main points :

Didnt like the way UFC reacted by not supporting him in his will to clean the sport and mostly by backing Hendricks when he chose not to do the test even tough he agreed at first.
Says that UFC stance on doping is one of the main reason he decided to quit
He says fighters have no power to express their opinion. UFC management has all the power on decisions. Players who would contest the organization would be punished.
There's too much on the line for them to clean the sport. Also, there are nasty things going on behind the scenes he can't talk about.
Direction of where the sport is going is very idiotic. He wants to do everything he can to change the sport.

Interesting stuff. Not actually sure how big a story it is, but I think it will generate enough discussion for a thread.

He also pretty much said he won't be coming back if things don't change.

[Jasen777]

It is crazy that Baseball has better testing that a sport that regularly lowers peoples' life expectancy. Though baseball players can get away with cheating more because they can spend tens of thousands of dollars to do it correctly, most fighters can't. But not many care about doping in the NFL or NBA, so I don't know if it's necessary for the UFC to address this to get to the next level.

[singh_shady]

I commend George for trying to change the landscape and provide a platform for the fighters to have a voice, not just pertaining to PEDs but on any issue that matters to them. The way things are structured right now, there's just no incentive for the other UFC superstars to band together and stick up for the rest of the athletes as a whole.

There's no other sports organization where all the decisions are essentially made by 3 or 4 guys at the top.

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Relevant: http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/ufc/ufc-bos ... -comments/

I side with GSP on this one.

[Cammo101]

I don't think it is fair to compare the UFC to someone like MLB. Baseball does whatever they want and make their own rules. The UFC has to answer to all the different commissions and their different rules. It is not so simple for them to put together a testing program. I agree the UFC needs to step up their testing, but there are a lot more bells and whistles than the usual sports league.

A lot of this just sounds like sour grapes from GSP. He wasn't complaining when the UFC made him rich.

[cowboyronnie]

A lot of this just sounds like sour grapes from GSP. He wasn't complaining when the UFC made him rich.

What a stupid **** Sherdog comment. I'm sure this is filling message boards and comment sections the world over, though.

He's not complaining about just anything. The UFC are obviously an amoral organization, and they sure do effed up things (look into Lorenzo's eyes), and he's not happy with certain practices. He doesn't want to work for them anymore.

BUT HE GOTS MONEY SO STOP CRYING BITCH, DRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR /ON INTERNET WORKING-CLASS REACTIONARY

The UFC didn't "make him" rich - they had a mutually-beneficial contract...it wasn't benevolence. Both sides are happy with the deals made.

[spykelee]

“He said he needed some time off because he had all these personal issues going on in his life. We said do your thing” White said. “He vacates the title … and we’ve left the guy alone. We’re not asking him to do anything. Guy’s out doing more interviews now than he did when he was fighting. Said he wanted to disappear for a while and go away. But here we are, talking about Georges St-Pierre. We’re trying to get him on the phone. It’s so weird.”

UFC chairman and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta called GSP’s comments disappointing and, according to White, attempted to contact the Canadian.

“Lorenzo reached out to him. Lorenzo still hasn’t heard from him. If Georges St-Pierre wants to talk like a man he can pick up the phone and call us or come see us face to face but everything that he said is ridiculous,” White said. “If Georges felt that way he should have said it to our faces, or to my face. I’m not very sensitive, you’re not going to hurt my feelings.”

The outspoken UFC president added that he believes GSP’s comments might stem from White’s post-UFC 167 speech where he stated he thought GSP lost the fight.

“What I heard is Georges St-Pierre is upset about some of the things I said at the press conference and he’s upset that I said that he didn’t win the fight, that I thought Johny Hendricks won the fight,” White explained. “But if that’s the case, call me man-to-man. Let’s talk on the phone, let’s sit down face-to-face. I talked to him after the fight face-to-face (and) he didn’t say any of that to me. So the whole thing is a little weird.”

Dana also talked about how guys like Vitor, and Bigfoot Silva... guys who are on TRT, are tested extensively throughout there camps and on fight night and that they must adhere to strict guidelines at all times. He mentioned how Bigfoot ended up losing his fight purse, and all his bonuses and cuts from the PPV, as well as he get's suspended for X amount of time... Says how there testing and punishments via the NSAC are top notch. He talks about boxers always wanting to go down this path of WADA testing, and that neither side can ever agree on it so it never happens.

I was a little surprised when he was talking about how his fighters are tested. I was under the impression that all fighters, were at the very least, tested on the night before and the night of there fights. But according to Dana, often the main and co main are tested pretty regularly, but everyone else isn't. Says in some obscure place they may test all the fighters, but by and large, it's usually just the big 4 and maybe a couple of other random guy's...

[Cammo101]

The UFC didn't "make him" rich - they had a mutually-beneficial contract...it wasn't benevolence. Both sides are happy with the deals made.

Of course they are. But when that was happening, GSP wasn't complaining about the UFC being a monopoly, because it helped him make money. Nothing like reaping the rewards of something and then bitching about it afterwards. It's hypocritical, and also incorrect, as the UFC is nothing close to a monopoly.

[REDDzone]

I don't think it is fair to compare the UFC to someone like MLB. Baseball does whatever they want and make their own rules. The UFC has to answer to all the different commissions and their different rules. It is not so simple for them to put together a testing program. I agree the UFC needs to step up their testing, but there are a lot more bells and whistles than the usual sports league.

The ufc gets to hide behind the commissions. They do an atrocious job due to lack of funding and when someone gets upset that a dude is roiding so obviously right in front of our eyes, Dana gets to play the "we are tested by teh government!" card.

[REDDzone]

Also Dana came out last night and said that GSP didn't go through with the increased steroid testing for the Hendricks fight. A short search bears that out to be an embarrassing lie, as per Dana's MO. GSP posted the pictures of his test results from said additional testing.

God it rubs me the wrong way when fatty Dana boxerciser is here talking about how GSP needs to be a man and all this. He said the same sh*t about Randy last year. Dana is literally the keyboard warrior personified.

But anyway, its impossible that ufc is a monopoly because their competitor is owned by a rich company, and its fine that we have circus freaks like Vitor knocking dudes out because despite him testing position in the past because Dana can hide him away in Brazil and self-regulate, oh and also because of teh gubment.

[Cammo101]

I don't think it is fair to compare the UFC to someone like MLB. Baseball does whatever they want and make their own rules. The UFC has to answer to all the different commissions and their different rules. It is not so simple for them to put together a testing program. I agree the UFC needs to step up their testing, but there are a lot more bells and whistles than the usual sports league.

The ufc gets to hide behind the commissions. They do an atrocious job due to lack of funding and when someone gets upset that a dude is roiding so obviously right in front of our eyes, Dana gets to play the "we are tested by teh government!" card.

I don't disagree with this.

[Cammo101]

Also Dana came out last night and said that GSP didn't go through with the increased steroid testing for the Hendricks fight. A short search bears that out to be an embarrassing lie, as per Dana's MO. GSP posted the pictures of his test results from said additional testing.

God it rubs me the wrong way when fatty Dana boxerciser is here talking about how GSP needs to be a man and all this. He said the same sh*t about Randy last year. Dana is literally the keyboard warrior personified.

But anyway, its impossible that ufc is a monopoly because their competitor is owned by a rich company, and its fine that we have circus freaks like Vitor knocking dudes out because despite him testing position in the past because Dana can hide him away in Brazil and self-regulate, oh and also because of teh gubment.

I am all for more harsh testing for PEDs, but this monopoly thing is just laughable. Bellator, WSOF, and TitanFC all have national TV deals and both Bellator and WSOF have proven more than willing to toss money around. Saying the UFC is a monopoly is just punishing them for being better at what they do than their competitors. Almost every major sports league is a monopoly EXCEPT the UFC.

If Peyton Manning gets fired from the NFL he'd be making 30K a year in the Arena league. If Jon Jones got fired by the UFC tomorrow, WSOF and Bellator would trip over each other to offer him 7 figure contract. Some monopoly.

[REDDzone]

I'm not a fan of comparing ufc to other sports leagues, but I do agree that the ufc isn't a monopoly.

[Bernman]

Of course they are. But when that was happening, GSP wasn't complaining about the UFC being a monopoly, because it helped him make money. Nothing like reaping the rewards of something and then bitching about it afterwards. It's hypocritical, and also incorrect, as the UFC is nothing close to a monopoly.

As if he reasonably could have said it during and jeopardized the millions he could receive in near future earnings for getting hit in the head. The UFC structures their pay like they do (heavily incentivized and distributed in a subjective way) to keep fighters like him on a short leash so they don't tell the truth about their treatment of fighters and the dynamic in MMA Zuffa has purposely created.

Dismissing this as a product of a severed relationship is just a convenient out for you to defend Zuffa. On the way out is the only time statements like these could have been made. And it's hardly GSP's M.O. to be deceitful or unreasonable. This is just how he reasonably feels.

You know full well he's right and it's a pseudo monopoly. When one big business buys up a bunch of the others, then sabotages the only one left that's actually trying to compete with them by creating a false competitor and blackballing prospective future employees who dare ever deal with the much lesser business which they in part made sure of thru those nefarious means - that's a monopoly like state that's been manufactured. MMA is nothing like major American pro sports where one league is dominant. There are unions and teams (30 pseudo independent organizations within 1 big dependent one) to keep owners relatively honest toward the athletes. In MMA there's Bellator....

[Jasen777]

I'm not a fan of comparing ufc to other sports leagues, but I do agree that the ufc isn't a monopoly.

It's really close. Though it's semantics perhaps. A monopoly does not have to be a organization that literally has complete control over a market. When Microsoft was labeled one, there was still Apple and Linux operating systems for instance.

Askren vs. GSP for the One FC belt!

[Cammo101]

You know full well he's right and it's a pseudo monopoly. When one big business buys up a bunch of the others, then sabotages the only one left that's actually trying to compete with them by creating a false competitor and blackballing prospective future employees who dare ever deal with the much lesser business which they in part made sure of thru those nefarious means - that's a monopoly like state that's been manufactured. MMA is nothing like major American pro sports where one league is dominant. There are unions and teams (30 pseudo independent organizations within 1 big dependent one) to keep owners relatively honest toward the athletes. In MMA there's Bellator....

The UFC does not go around buying off competitors in an attempt to swallow them up. They wait for them to fail and then buy what is left of them, mostly for their fight libraries. The only company the UFC ever bought before they were teetering on the edge of bankruptcy was Strikeforce.

The UFC is nothing close to a monopoly. They are the monster in their market for sure. But, not because they are the only game in town, but because they had a headstart and run a good business.

[Bernman]

I'm not a fan of comparing ufc to other sports leagues, but I do agree that the ufc isn't a monopoly.

It's really close. Though it's semantics perhaps. A monopoly does not have to be a organization that literally has complete control over a market. When Microsoft was labeled one, there was still Apple and Linux operating systems for instance.

Askren vs. GSP for the One FC belt!

It's definitely semantics. It's like someone saying they clearly aren't a sociopath because occasionally they put a penny in the community tray.

Very few things are 100% in one direction or another. It's all about reasonable degrees or actions as to whether or not you deserve a label.

Sure, if Jon Jones sassed Dana to an unacceptable level for him, Bones could go to Bellator for a few years and make a living, possibly gaining financial security for life if he's frugal. But he'd probably lose millions in the deal because of UFC's aggressive branding to put themselves above the fighter, as well as their unethical chipping away at other brands. And Jones also probably couldn't be #1 for those reasons. That's a primary or secondary goal for most fighters. So Jones has a major impetus to fall in line. Whereas in NFL/NBA/MLB, if you have a tyrant owner who wants to release or fine you, there's the player's union protecting you from those things or 29 other teams to pick you up with less tyrannical ownership, so you can speak out about injustices.

Then what about the almost 99% of fighters in the UFC who aren't champions? Jon Jones is an extreme case. He doesn't reflect the market in general.

[Cammo101]

Most fighters in the UFC don't make a whole lot more than they would make in Bellator or WSOF. Really, it is the top guys who benefit financially being in the UFC instead of other orgs. The regular Joe fighters are in the UFC because they want to fight the best fighters or because they want to make a run at being one of those top guys and making big money.

The UFC is not doing anything to keep a company like Bellator from being successful. Bellator has all the pieces in place to be a major player in MMA. Being a monopoly means you have no chance to compete in the market.

[Bernman]

Most fighters in the UFC don't make a whole lot more than they would make in Bellator or WSOF. Really, it is the top guys who benefit financially being in the UFC instead of other orgs. The regular Joe fighters are in the UFC because they want to fight the best fighters or because they want to make a run at being one of those top guys and making big money.

I don't see how that supports your stance at all. In fact it undermines it. They are teasing fighters who almost all by nature believe they are or will be among the best, with the hope of substantial paydays, which probably in all likelihood will never come, and meanwhile for the company they help buoy cards which wouldn't make much money without the presence of guys like them.

The UFC is not doing anything to keep a company like Bellator from being successful. Bellator has all the pieces in place to be a major player in MMA. Being a monopoly means you have no chance to compete in the market

That's an outright lie. Steering top prospects away from Bellator by making it look like they won't sign them in the future if they go there, and starting a phony competitor to the #2 to take more prospects and perception away from them, is the definition of doing unethical (possibly illegal) things to keep Bellator from being successful. Bellator has lost their way somewhat after Viacom took control, but they would be in a lot better position right now to be a viable alternative to fighters, if not for Zuffa's dirty tactics.

[Cammo101]

That's an outright lie. Steering top prospects away from Bellator by making it look like they won't sign them in the future if they go there, and starting a phony competitor to the #2 to take more prospects and perception away from them, is the definition of doing unethical (possibly illegal) things to keep Bellator from being successful.

This is all speculation.

The UFC has signed guys with history in Bellator multiple times.