GSP is just refusing to leave headlines for all of the perceived right reasons, eh? The former (and still reigning in my eyes) welterweight king has essentially moved on from his fighting career as the most popular mixed martial artist ever, and is parlaying his popularity into a rally to change the sports alleged dirtiness. I have to say, putting his popularity and reputation on the line like this for the good of the sport is rather incredible. You don’t see many #1 athletes doing stuff like this. Michael Jordan just gambled, Lawrence Taylor did what Lawrence Taylor did, and many are too busy making money by being spokesmen and living the life after they retire to further a cause, but not GSP. This is admirable.
I was never a huge fan of GSP when he was fighting. I respected him and his abilities, and thought he got a lot of undue flack, but this really raises GSP to a new level for me. He never needed to speak out about steroids in MMA, he doesn’t have to put himself out there like this, but he is, and hopefully this changes something in our sport.
GSP spoke to Ariel Helwani about his recent stances against the UFC and their drug policies.
“I said it even before when I met with them, this, I swear. I met them after my fight with Johny Hendricks when I went in the back. I said that to them. I said it to them, I swear on myself and my family.
“So when they say I never said it, that I said it publicly before I said it to them, I said it to them first.”
“I have personal issues. And also the drug testing has something to do with it. This is the truth. I said it first. And I cannot use the kind of language I would like to use, in the way that I told them, because I did not use the right language, very nice language when I said that to them. I made references to very bad things and I cannot tell you the way that I said it because I never want to accuse one individual.
“They were not surprised. I don’t believed they were surprised. I told them and they were like, ‘oh, you think so?’ I was like, yeah, I know for a fact.
“Lorenzo is a good person. Lorenzo understands that it’s true. I believe the problem is not the UFC, it’s the system. It’s a new sport, and the last thing I want is to hurt the UFC. I just want to elevate the sport. I think it’s the next step for elevating the sport, that it should be done.
“The system is not in place. There are no guidelines. The way they test now, it’s not good. It’s not good the way they test. If you get caught on steroids right now, it’s because you’re very disorganized. It’s so easy to beat the test. It’s ridiculous. It’s not a real test.”
“I’m part of the family in the UFC, but I want more of the UFC. I think it’s something they should do because a lot of other athletes who are not interested in my sport, the first thing they say when they look at mixed martial arts is that big cliché, the stereotype, these guys all have tattoos and they take steroids.
“There needs to be random testing by an independent organization that has no interest in the money for the fight. That’s how it should be done. That’s how it is in any other sport,” St-Pierre explained.
