White comment’s on Sonnen’s failed drug test
White, who said he does not know the particulars of Sonnen’s situation, was exasperated on Sunday. He wants to eradicate…
White, who said he does not know the particulars of Sonnen’s situation, was exasperated on Sunday. He wants to eradicate steroids from the sport, but is realistic enough to know how difficult it is and is compassionate enough that he doesn’t want to bury someone further.
What else do I do? White said. We’ve spent millions of dollars – literally, millions of dollars – to try to get this thing regulated so they can be tested by the government. Do you know how much it costs us to put on that fighter seminar every year? Let me tell you, we’re bringing guys in from all over the world. We have guys from England, Germany, Croatia, Australia, Korea. We have 350 guys under contract and they’re coming from all over the world. It costs us a (expletive) ton, but we do it because it’s important.
When one of them fails a test, the government is going to fine them and suspend them and tell them they can’t make a living for a year. So should I come in after they’ve already lost the ability to make a living for a year and been fined all this money and, in the worst economic disaster in the history of the world, fine them another huge amount and take away their ability to make a living even longer?
These are guys with homes and families and personal lives and bills and debts and obligations, just like me and you, White said. After they lost all this money already, money that, A, they’ve probably already spent and B, which they owe taxes, do I fine them another huge amount? What else do you do to a human being?
White’s point is valid, but the problem arises if a fighter is seriously injured by an opponent who was enhanced by steroids. At that stage, the very foundation of the sport will be threatened.
