This year, two well-known professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters were tested positive for the banned drugs in sports; namely, Drostanolone and Nandrolone Metabolite. One of whom is the Brazilian MMA fighter Carina Damm and the other one is the American MMA fighter James Irvin.

During the second quarter of this year, the name of Damm was featured in almost every report of sports news such as ESPN. According to its report, Damm was the first female fighter to test positive for steroids in the history of U.S. MMA. As a sanction, Carina Damm received a year suspension apart from paying the fine that cost $2,500.

The steroid scandal faced by MMA was again highlighted by the involvement of James Irvin to steroids; almost one month after Damm got a positive result for these banned drugs. Irvin who is also known as “The Sandman” was seen with loaded steroids as well as narcotics in his urine after his Nevada fight. James Irvin also tested positive for a synthetic type of heroin, methadone. As a sanction, he also received a temporary suspension as well as a fine for the alleged infractions. He also received a threat on the cancellation of his license as a consequence to his violation.

These instances draw Dane Fletcher, a writer on ArticleBase.com, to speak about the steroid scandals that are being faced by MMA. He mentioned in one of his article that the combination of Anabolic Steroid with MMA is clearly giving people an idea about the manifestation of performance-enhancing to the fighters inside the MMA ring. 

Fletcher recalls the first time when MMA was introduced in the sport arena was in the 90’s. Unfortunately, the sport was banned during its early days because of the violence it displays: combining the styles of grappling and striking. But it started to gain more exposure after 10 years from the time it was banned. And to further provide more viewing pleasure, this sport created new standards for combating. These changes attract more sponsors, corporate interest, as well as Pay-Per-View television events.

Fletcher explained that there can only be two things that can happen into a sport that starts to gain large sum of money. First, more and more athletes tend to join the sport; hence, the level of performance required also increased. Second, drug use tends to play a part since the need for each fight is higher. Fletcher mentioned that each time MMA’s fighters entered into the ring, thousands of dollars are already on the line. This is why the idea of taking performance-enhancing drugs are welcomed by some players in this sport.

According to Fletcher, MMA fighters prefer to use Mibolerone and Halotesten. These drugs increase the feeling of strength and aggression without the experience of weight gain or water retention. Meanwhile, Fletcher said that strikers prefer to use Trenbolone and Winstrol. Human growth hormone and testosterone are also beginning to be more popular in MMA. All of these supplements are actually costly and in some instances, they are only made available to chosen professional athletes.

It is a personal decision of a fighter if he is going to take enhancers, said by Fletcher. However, he reminded that the use of steroids is naturally prohibited in the entire professional fighting organizations. So, anyone who decides to take these drugs must be ready to face the consequences of his actions, more specifically the sanctions. Finally, Fletcher concluded that as long as MMA or any other sports stay successful with millions of sponsorship money and worldwide coverage, the use of performance-enhancer drugs will always be tempting to the players. 
   

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