In recent years MMA Media has made a significant shift from "Anybody with a blog" to journalists interviewing, investigating, and delivering news. Its has come a long way, and certainly it still has a great distance to go.
A large complaint of the current media landscape is that due to the overwhelming size and power of the UFC, no media outlet dares shine a light too far into the dark corners that Zuffa doesn't want seen.
They also catch a lot of flack for letting people off easy. When Dana White says there is a "Big Announcement" and it ends up being Lorenzo stepping down from his position at Station Casinos, nobody at the conference questions the hyperbole. When White challenged reporters in an open form to declare the winner of GSP/Hendricks, after hes just railed against how stupid the decision was, only Dave Meltzer actually says "Ya I had GSP winning", and his opinion is quickly brushed aside.
When Chael Sonnen was busted for elevated testosterone, nobody questioned him further after he played dumb and acted innocent. They let him spin his wheels and nobody stopped him to say "Cut the crap, you were aware that you were required to notify them of what you were doing and you didn't. You were aware of how to investigate what was a banned substance and you didn't Ignorance is not a defence".
Now we're presented with one of the biggest stories that a sports reporter could hope to come across. One of the sports top atheletes tests positive for not a competition banned substance, but a Schedule II narcotic. Jones has released a statement, UFC have released a statement, actions have been taken and PR is in full swing. The question is whether MMA Journalists finally make a move for respect and say "Thats not good enough" and hopefully we can get some real answers to some troubling questions:
Why were results known on Dec. 23 not released until 2 weeks later? Who made that decision? Why hasn't the same courtesy been extended to all fighters in the past? Was Daniel Cormier informed of this prior to the fight? Why or why not? Why is Marijuana on the banned substance list but other recreational drugs such as cocaine aren't? Is rehab enough? Will the UFC investigate if other fighters are travelling down the drug path? Will the Atheletic Commission? Does the UFC even have a position on whether its fighters are using hard narcotics or is it a don't ask don't tell policy? And possibly the most troubling, if the UFC is willing to allow a person that has tested positive for Cocaine fight, what extra precautions, if any, are they taking to ensure that fighter has no chance of transmitting a blood-borne disease to their opponent?
A large complaint of the current media landscape is that due to the overwhelming size and power of the UFC, no media outlet dares shine a light too far into the dark corners that Zuffa doesn't want seen.
They also catch a lot of flack for letting people off easy. When Dana White says there is a "Big Announcement" and it ends up being Lorenzo stepping down from his position at Station Casinos, nobody at the conference questions the hyperbole. When White challenged reporters in an open form to declare the winner of GSP/Hendricks, after hes just railed against how stupid the decision was, only Dave Meltzer actually says "Ya I had GSP winning", and his opinion is quickly brushed aside.
When Chael Sonnen was busted for elevated testosterone, nobody questioned him further after he played dumb and acted innocent. They let him spin his wheels and nobody stopped him to say "Cut the crap, you were aware that you were required to notify them of what you were doing and you didn't. You were aware of how to investigate what was a banned substance and you didn't Ignorance is not a defence".
Now we're presented with one of the biggest stories that a sports reporter could hope to come across. One of the sports top atheletes tests positive for not a competition banned substance, but a Schedule II narcotic. Jones has released a statement, UFC have released a statement, actions have been taken and PR is in full swing. The question is whether MMA Journalists finally make a move for respect and say "Thats not good enough" and hopefully we can get some real answers to some troubling questions:
Why were results known on Dec. 23 not released until 2 weeks later? Who made that decision? Why hasn't the same courtesy been extended to all fighters in the past? Was Daniel Cormier informed of this prior to the fight? Why or why not? Why is Marijuana on the banned substance list but other recreational drugs such as cocaine aren't? Is rehab enough? Will the UFC investigate if other fighters are travelling down the drug path? Will the Atheletic Commission? Does the UFC even have a position on whether its fighters are using hard narcotics or is it a don't ask don't tell policy? And possibly the most troubling, if the UFC is willing to allow a person that has tested positive for Cocaine fight, what extra precautions, if any, are they taking to ensure that fighter has no chance of transmitting a blood-borne disease to their opponent?
