By Matt Larkin
Guest Writer
We’ve had a lot to talk about in MMA of late thanks to the big changes in Ontario sanctioning. As a result, we’ve neglected what was actually a big story that arose last week.
What we know: Michael Bennett of Applied Pharmacies services was just found guilty for supplying steroids to 22 athletes. Among the recipients: a mixed martial artist with the initials S.C. Bennett sent Trenbolone, Testosterone, Stanozol injectable and Nandrolone to S.C. in Colorado.
Mixed martial artist Shane Carwin trains out of Colorado. Gulp. It also doesn’t help that he has a massive and strangely chiselled physique for a heavyweight. Did Carwin use steroids? The evidence certainly suggests it. It doesn’t help that he’s refraining from making any detailed public statements about the accusations.
Until Carwin or the UFC speak up, we can’t fully decide how we feel about Carwin. But the news raises another question on my mind. How much do steroids really help a mixed martial artist?
The natural reaction is that it’s silly to even ask that question. After all, they enhance athletes’ brute strength and few sports reward brute strength like MMA.
But perhaps a guy like George St-Pierre would disagree. He regularly insists that “technique always beats strength” and he’s proven that time and again by using his wrestling to dominate larger opponents. We’ve also seen plenty of brutes beaten by superior technical fighters. Many of Fedor’s fights played out that way, as did Royce Gracie’s in the day thanks to his wily BJJ.
However, I’d argue that the modern “brute” in MMA is much more versed in the technical aspect of fighting. Even a big, potentially steroid-boosted monster like Carwin brings an accomplished collegiate wrestling pedigree to the Octagon. So fighters today arguably gain more from the strength advantage that steroids provide than they did, say, a decade ago.
Another aspect of steroids that makes me question how much they help fighters, however, is that of fatigue. Carwin visibly has a muscled-up body that looks too big for his frame, unlike Brock Lesnar, who is a huge man no matter how you look at him. It’s thus no wonder that he gasses easily with that body struggling to get oxygen everywhere. Is it possible that a steroids-enhanced body tires quicker? Given the bulked-up Bobby Lashley’s showing at Strikeforce last week, I wonder if he should be tested, too.
In the end, it’s ludicrous to assume a mixed martial artist doesn’t gain an unfair advantage from using steroids. But I’m just saying – the edge may not be as big as some people think.