Hey folks I know its been awhile...but I'm back with another montablog !!! :-) As of late there has been a buzz in the bjj community about the use of steroids. I seen an article the other day by caio terra on otm and uscombatsports about the topic. So I decided to give my own opinion about this very controversial but overlooked topic in our sport.As much as I agree with caio terra views, (unless caio word turns into action) the use of steroids will continue to occur. Want to know why....BJJ is not a legitimate sport that has gathered worldwide notoriety yet. Let me explain before you jump the fences on me. When we compete in bjj we are not getting paid to compete. We do so at our own free will. For the most part the sport bjj does not offer cash, big time commercial promotions, and other things associated with marketing the sport or a fighter's profolio. Even companies like OTM or BJJLegends are small freelance companies who voluntary promote the sport of BJJ.Although winning events like the Pan Ams and Worlds is a big accomplishment at best the only thing a fighter receives is a medal and maybe a small sponsorship toward continuing to do what they love to do ( which is 25 % of the time). In all what I'm trying to say is the sport bjj is small time, not fully recognized, "under the radar". So it gives people the opportunity to do the things that caio mentioned.
Now you may ask yourself..why do people enforce strickter policies when an athlete get caught doing steroids in sports like baseball, mma, boxing,and even pro wrestling. Simple all about franchise. What i mean by franchise is the athlete is representing a brand which generates cash to that particular industry.
For example: The Chris Beniot Situation- once that situation occurred the WWE's image went down significantly. 25 % of its wrestling rooster ( some being the wwe's top talent) in 2007 were removed from the company because of it and in its entirety it has left a bad image on the pro-wrestling industry to this day.
Example 2 : MMA in the present- back in the old days fighters never got tested for drug use ..due to the fact that mma at the time was not a legitimized entity that it is today. Now MMa has reached main stream. You can't turn on your tv without seeing a promo of a upcoming fight, mass media attention, and other aspects that create HYPE for the fight. Fighters are expected to train hard (without any "medication") and put on a good show..because for 1 they are getting paid ( 5 digits salaries) and 2. they are making the company/industry more money.
I can go on and on & give you more examples of this but what I'm trying to say is until bjj reaches mainstream status...this situation will continue to occur.
It is very sad that the integrity level of bjj players has been put into question because of this. We don't get paid to perform we do it to better ourselves and add experience to our journey through life.... and .So what is the point of using steriods for ?.. ...( as El Atnom would say) a "50 cent goal medal ?" over your health..come on !!!
the end
