Issue 036

April 2008

By: Stash Capar

Some see it as a harmless recreational drug - others see it as a dangerous illegal substance. Throughout history, it’s been used by scholars, rock stars, astronauts, politicians, artists and fighters alike. It’s been present in everything from ancient religious ceremonies to university movie nights. Whatever your view, there’s no denying that the little green plant known as marijuana has a presence in every area of modern life, including the world of mixed martial arts.

Regardless, none of this changes the fact that weed is illegal, and therefore banned by all the athletic commissions. In recent years, several high profile fighters, including The Ultimate Fighter stars Diego Sanchez (17-2-0) and Kendall Grove (8-5-0), have been penalized after urine tests found high levels of THC, the main psychoactive component of marijuana, in their systems. 

According to UFC Vice President and former Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, Mark Ratner, the hard-line anti-marijuana stance, first imposed in 2004, isn’t going to change any time soon. “Recreational drugs are illegal,” says Ratner. “If a fighter’s taking something illegal, it’s not right. We’ve very much made up our minds on this, we don’t want anybody using anything illegal.”

While many claim marijuana causes damage to a variety of functions, including fine motor skills and short-term memory, that doesn’t seem to stop top tier fighters from enjoying the occasional (or frequent) joint. Why? Certainly not to enhance their physical abilities, says The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 winner and self-described “regular marijuana user” Kendall Grove (8-5-0). “It [marijuana] is definitely not a performance enhancing drug,” laughs Grove. 

“Steroids actually make you run faster, make you stronger – it’s a performance enhancer. Weed just makes you gain weight and be lazy. Don’t get me wrong, my first six fights, I fought high, I fought stoned. But when you get to this level, you have to take responsibility. It’s your job. Now I’m clean when I fight. I cut that shit out – I stop doing that stuff three months out.”

Some, like highly decorated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner and outspoken marijuana advocate Eddie Bravo disagree with Grove’s stance, claiming that weed not only enhances coordination, but also creativity. “I would argue that weed enhances coordination,” says Bravo. 

“It opens up the arteries and veins in your eyes, more blood rushes through, it opens up your brain to more blood flow. Everything feels better and you start getting creative. You’re more inspired and ideas flow, whether you’re writing music or doing Jiu-Jitsu. Some of my greatest moments and techniques happened after I had smoked. All you got to do is remember that the greatest college running-back is Ricky William, the greatest basketball player is Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and the greatest martial artist was Bruce Lee. Guess what? They’re all potheads.”

And so are many of the world’s top mixed martial artists, according to Bravo, who is himself a UFC insider. While rumours and suspicions have circulated around certain individuals, Bravo refuses to give names. Luckily, he makes hints readily available. “So many great fighters train and compete stoned,” says Bravo. “I know a guy, he’s one of the greatest American grapplers, and he competes stoned all the time and kills everybody. Don’t think its just grapplers either, there’s a ton of strikers out there who do it, they’re all just very secretive about it.”

There’s one fighter who makes no effort in hiding his pastime – UFC, Pride and Elite XC competitor Nick Diaz (15-7-0, 1 NC). Regarded by some as MMA’s very own representative of the marijuana subculture, Diaz’s ganja smoking became public knowledge after his win over top rated lightweight Takanori Gomi (27-3-0) at Pride 33, where after a failed drug test, Diaz’s victory was overturned and announced a no contest. 

The Cesar Gracie-trained fighter’s THC levels had been measured at 175, which was extremely shocking considering the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s threshold is 50, meaning that Diaz was over three times the allowed THC limit. This presented the commission with a unique predicament; Diaz may have very well been fighting under the influence of Mary Jane.

On April 10^th 2007, Commission Chairman Dr. Tony Alamo addressed the media with a statement that would hurt Diaz’s career, but at the same time make him every pothead’s champion. “I was there at the fight [against Gomi],” said Alamo. “I believe that you were intoxicated and that it made you numb to the pain. Did it help you win? I think it did.”

The NSAC suspended the welterweight for six months and fined him 20% of his earnings for the bout, but the publicity, along with his dominating performance over one of the world’s top rated fighters, put Diaz squarely in the spotlight, and MMA’s emerging marijuana subculture with it.

“They claimed I was so high I was numb to pain,” says Diaz. “How am I going to be numb to pain off some weed? It’s common sense that weed doesn't do that. The only kind of pain it might numb me from is the fear of losing in competition and the anxiety that everybody has to go through as fighters. If you want to call it a performance- enhancing drug in that sense, by all means do it then.”

Diaz, like many others, attributes marijuana’s evil image to paranoia and a lack of drug education. While statistically marijuana causes few, if any, deaths or serious injuries, athletic commissions seem to be cracking down hard on the innocent looking leaf. “What about fighters using prescription drugs?” asks Diaz. “They actually kill people. People overdose and die! Homegrown herbs don’t kill people. They don’t, they never have. I think the commissions should be more worried about vicodins and prescription drugs that they’re not even testing for. I’m not saying that kids should go out and start smoking weed, but there’s definitely more dangerous stuff out there.” Statistically, adverse reactions to prescription drugs are responsible for over 32,000 deaths annually in the Unites States. Marijuana on the other hand, has yet to be responsible for a single fatality. 

But this is beside the point says Joseph de Pencier, of the Canadian Centre for Ethics and Sport. “If you accept the premise that doping can involve health risks,” says de Pencier. “And that it can involve actions contrary to the spirit of sport, then treating marijuana in this way is quite justified.”

Nonetheless, de Pencier admits that the general attitude towards marijuana, especially outside of the U.S is changing, and he hopes to see an end to incidents like that involving Diaz. “The problem is that marijuana is taking time and resources away from catching the real cheaters in sport,” says de Pencier. “Athletes who occasionally smoke marijuana and get caught shouldn’t face severe penalties, so drug testers could focus on steroids and other drugs athletes use to enhance performance.”

Recently, sports and government officials in Great Britain and the Netherlands have echoed these sentiments, calling for marijuana to be removed from the list of banned substances entirely, unfortunately de Pencier doesn’t see this happening anytime soon. “I don’t think it’s a fight that most countries are going to win,” says de Pencier. “I think we’re just whistling in the wind on that one.”

Eddie Bravo on the other hand, is more optimistic. “It shouldn’t be illegal,” he insists. “In the future I don’t think it will be, it’s all just paranoia after all. Everyone seems to think there’s a flip side, a negative side to it. I disagree, it’s a beautiful plant and it truly benefits fighters.”

With the battle for decriminalization gaining ground in numerous countries, could there ever be a time when all mixed martial artists enter the cage stoned? “No,” says Bravo. “Training or competing in grappling high is one thing, but you gotta be a bad mother fucker to get in the UFC Octagon stoned!”