McInnes: Fight against PEDs is not winnable
Andrew McInnes: “Let’s bring back the PRIDE days Let ‘em all juice up. It’s happening anyways. Let’s not fight a war that’s absolutely not winnable.”
Given the number of fighters failing PED tests, the hardcore fan base is now playing a game of Who’s (Pissing) Hot of Not?
There are a few things you can count on in life. Life is one, death and taxes make three. Then there is rain after you wash your car, bumping into your ex while looking bad, and lastly, Steph Daniels always does an awesome interview.
Here she interviews the WSOF’s Andrew McInnes who fights Cody McKenzie at WSoF 18 on Thursday, February 12, live NBC Sports Network. McInnes plays the Pissing Hot or Not game with a vengeance, and say the fight against PEDs is not winnable.
StephDaniels: You’re a black belt under Robert Drysdale. Did it bother you when he tested for elevated testosterone levels?
Andrew McInnes: I wasn’t upset at all. I’m not sure what his situation might have been, but it seems to be happening frequently now. I’m smart enough to understand that pretty much everybody in the sport is using, except for myself and probably Cody McKenzie, to be honest. We all know full well what’s going on with this sport.
I know when I go into a fight that my opponent is probably going to be juiced up. A lot of people take that road, and I don’t blame them. I know how hard it is to train and stay healthy and recovered adequately. It’s a part of MMA and I don’t think it’s ever going to change.
SD: Would you prefer to see all PED abusers that get caught banned from the sport, suspended for longer periods of time, or should all the athletes be able to use performance enhancers freely?
AM: If you were to start banning people or suspending them for longer periods, there’d be no sport left. If you just tested the main event guys, the majority of them would be f—ing gone. There’s a reason why Vitor Belfort looks like a racehorse one day, and Tom Hanks in Philadelphia the next.
It’s just something you’ve gotta deal with, so I say let’s bring back the PRIDE days, take away weight classes, gimme those Bob Sapp types. Let ‘em all juice up. It’s happening anyways. Let’s not fight a war that’s absolutely not winnable.
SD: Would you at least like to see some physician monitoring in that scenario so people don’t get carried away and end up killing themselves?
AM: Let them kill themselves [laughs]. I need people burning out there engines by the time they’re five fights into their careers. Makes it easier for me. The only person that’s a really heavy juicer that has any longevity at all is Gleison Tibau, and he’s a rare exception.
Everybody is juiced up, and if they’re smart, they will get a doctor. If they’re not, oh well, let them do what they want. I’ll still be here.
(Gleison Tibau)’s been in the UFC for a long time, and he’s a clear cut juicer. I guarantee you, his piss glows in the dark. I’ve been around every gym on this earth, and he’s 100% a juicer. The only person I can say 100% doesn’t juice is Mitch Clark. I’m sure there are others, but it’s very few.
SD: What about the really outspoken fighters that almost crusade against PEDs?
AM: It’s all bulls— Look at Jon Fitch. He says he’s a vegan, and the whole time he’s saying it, he’s got a needle hanging from his ass. Everybody is juicing, and the ones that are singing that same tune are full of s—…except me [laughs].
The experience with cycling would indicate that the war against PEDs can be won. But it took Lance Armstrong losing all his Tour de France wins, and a years long fight between the athletes and the regulators. Let’s home this is not just the beginning in MMA.