Recently Retired UFC Lightweight Mark Bocek Says That Everyone Is Doing PEDs

Recently retired UFC lightweight Mark Bocek may not have had the most storied or successful career in modern MMA, but he did at least go out on a high note. Calling it a day on 10-year career recently, the Canadian left the octagon with a 12-5 record, most recently defeating Mike De La Torre by split decision at the TUF: Nations finals.

A training partner at the Tristar gym, Bocek rubbed shoulders with the likes of Rory MacDonald and Georges St-Pierre while putting in his work. Another thing that the 32-year old Canadian has in common with the former welterweight champion GSP is his feeling towards PEDs in MMA, as he explained in an interview with MMAJunkie.com:

“I’m a realistic person, and I look at it like I could do all the PEDs on the planet and still be able to compete with guys, but if I don’t, it’s just not going to happen. I’d rather go out like this with a good memory of the sport. I didn’t want to leave with a sour feeling on the sport, with a loss, with hating the sport. So I guess the difference between me and everyone is I’m just a little more realistic. In the end, not everybody becomes the champion.”

The sad truth about combat sports is that a lot of unnecessary punishment is doled out to many young athletes who have a very difficult goal to reach. The thought of becoming the champion of a big league MMA promotion is enough to gamble one’s health on, but often becomes a painful pursuit, even if entertaining for the fans in the meantime. Bocek continued:

“I think it’s worse than people realize,” Bocek said. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the way things are going, you kind of deserve to lose if you’re not on PEDs nowadays. I used to think of it as cheating, but you can’t call it cheating when everyone is doing it. You go in there and lose to someone on PEDs, it’s like, what did you expect? Did you think you were going to knock out some guy on PEDs in the highest MMA league in the world? People get away with cheating in the Olympics, which has much stricter testing than in the UFC, so you can imagine what people get away with in the UFC.”

Recently semi-retired welterweight kingpin ‘Rush’ had similar things to say about drug abuse in the UFC, and has since become a very formidable campaigner against PEDs in combat sports. Although Bocek may not pull as much weight in the public eye as St-Pierre, he does add to a growing list of pro fighters with hands on experience, and an eye witness account to boot:

“I can’t put numbers on it. I’ve trained at the top five MMA camps on the planet, but I’d never mention any names. There are genetic freaks out there. There are always exceptions. But look at Tour de France. If you want a clean guy, let’s go down to No. 28. There are fighters that don’t use, but the way the sport’s highly evolved now, the clean guys are getting farther and fewer between. It sucks when you’re breaking your balls every day and the other guys don’t have to put in as much work because they’re getting the help,” Bocek said. “I’ve trained with people on (PEDs), and I’ve trained with people off it, and it gets pretty easy to recognize and know when people are using it and when people aren’t. You train with a guy and a week later they’re five times stronger all of a sudden? That doesn’t come from weightlifting.”

Well it doesn’t get much more damning than that does it? From what Bocek is saying, you start to get the reasons behind GSP’s sudden vacation from his welterweight title. High profile drug busts in the UFC alone include Alistair Overeem, Bigfoot Silva, Chael Sonnen, Thiago Silva, Wanderlei Silva ducking a random test, and Vitor Belfort becoming the face of TRT.

It seems that even with stricter drug tests by the commissions, and greater punishments and compliance by the promotions, there are still many ways left to cheat the system. With no solution in sight, are we destined for a murky future where PEDs are the norm, or will MMA overcome it’s current state and clear out the junkies?

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports