Each week, ESPN.com MMA writer Brett Okamoto, ESPN Insider senior editor Mike Huang and a guest panelist tackle hot topics in the world of mixed martial arts.
This week, UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw joins the panel.
1. How harsh does a punishment need to be for first-time PED offenders to cut drug use in MMA?
TJ Dillashaw: I guess it goes off of personal basis. For me, I think the punishment is harsh enough -- and knowing you'll be known as a doper. I think that's bad for anybody's career. I guess they could extend the sentence. I'm not really sure. Some guys are always going to be willing to take that risk. Whether it's because they are relying on it because of their past or they are just willing to do whatever it takes, even if it gives them a bad name.
Brett Okamoto: The current standard of nine months isn't terrible. Bump it to one year, that's appropriate. One year is a long time without a fight check. Fine 50 percent of a fighter's purse -- and send a significant amount of it to his/her opponent. Ultimately, though, it's the drug testing methods and frequency that will curb use more so than harsher penalties. Right now, athletes are cheating because they don't think they'll get caught.
Mike Huang: I think a six-month suspension would be appropriate, considering that essentially allows a fighter to fight maybe once that calendar year. After the suspension, he or she would have to work back into shape, get a fight and get through camp. For a sport such as MMA, where fighters make a miniscule amount of money compared to even the average NFL, NBA or MLB player, hitting them in the wallet might hurt more than anything, even the public shaming of revealing positive drug test results. Bottom line, the first offense should be strict.
2. How should the UFC respond to the rash of positive drug tests that have recently hit the sport?
Dillashaw: It's tough, I feel every sport has to go through it. Baseball went through it. Football has their fair share of PED offenses. So long as guys are getting punished and being frowned upon, hopefully they'll start doing the right things. It's hard for me to say. I've never been put in the position to deal with it.
Okamoto: Fund a comprehensive, year-round program that will implement random, Olympic-style drug testing. And this pertains to Bellator MMA too, as they are in a financial position to do so. It's the only answer, and it's well overdue. Partner with a third party, like United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), test all fighters at any given time and report results to the athlete, the UFC, athletic commissions and the media.
Huang: I'd like the UFC to be proactive in overhauling the system they have in place and find a faster, more efficient way of testing the fighters. I don't know, maybe they're afraid that if they get too strict and too efficient at testing, they'd lose half their fighters ... Regardless, the testing process needs to be redone, considering the reported lag time between when Anderson Silva was tested and when results were available to the UFC. That's ridiculous.
3. Promotions, fighters or fans: Which is hurt the most by PED use in MMA?
Dillashaw: I'd say fans, because of the fact that they are looking up to someone. They look up to this big-name fighter and see how hard he works and all great things he's done and then it comes down to the guy was taking shortcuts. It's tough to look into a role model like that. The promotion is going to take a big hit from it as well, but the UFC is such a strong company they'll always come back. They'll always have a new fighter. Once you build a legendary status and then get caught, I feel like it hurts the fans more than anybody.
Okamoto: The fighters. The negative effects of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs to one's health are fairly well-documented at this point. Cheaters are not only endangering the health of their opponents by doping, they're also submitting their own bodies to negative long-term effects in most cases. Promotions will survive PED use, no problem. It's not a great image for the sport for sure, but the UFC will survive this outbreak of positive tests. Fans will get over it. It's the fighters' health that takes the brunt of this.
Huang: Well, it's not the fighters. They're the ones choosing to use them. They're grown men and women and understand the consequences, both professional and physically. Sure, the fans are hurt by it because they don't know when an athlete is legit. Hell, I'd wager that a segment of fans don't even care that fighters use PEDs. They just want to see a scrap. But ultimately, it's the promotions and the sport itself that gets hurt the most. MMA takes a stiff jab each time a guy tests positive, because of its still-growing mainstream appeal. No doubt the sport has made huge gains in the last decade. But it's still a distance away. Repeated PED use only augments the stereotype of mindless gladiators so many in the sport have tried to fight. It's a PR nightmare.
4. Ahead of this weekend's UFC main event between Ben Henderson and Brandon Thatch, what is the matchup you most want to see between two fighters of different weight classes?
Dillashaw: Me and [UFC featherweight champion Jose] Aldo. I've always said I can beat him. Not to keep harping on that -- I know I need to hold my own weight class down and make sure I'm dominant there, but I would love to have that fight. We got Urijah Faber and Frankie Edgar coming up [on May 15]. That's a fight I'm excited for. I feel like it's a fight that's been talked about for a long time. They are legends of the sport and I feel like it's a great time for it to happen.
Okamoto: Ronda Rousey versus Cris Justino. That's No. 1 pretty easy. I'm not sure Justino can make 135 pounds (in fact, I'm pretty dubious about it). I would love to see the fight take place at 140 pounds. Let me quickly add, I'm not discounting Cat Zingano's chances against Rousey at UFC 184, but if I'm building a "super fight" tomorrow, it's Rousey vs. Justino. Coming in at No. 2 is Jon Jones versus Cain Velasquez and No. 3 would be Jose Aldo versus Anthony Pettis.
Huang: Well, I really wanted to see Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson fight, but Bendo needs a win to stave off being Frankie Edgar-ed into limbo. Really, if Cris Justino can't make 135, you'd have to want to see her fight Ronda Rousey at a catchweight.
5. In light of 25th anniversary of James 'Buster' Douglas' knockout over Mike Tyson, what is your favorite upset in MMA history?
Dillashaw: It's hard to say. Everybody tells me my fight [against Renan Barao at UFC 173] was the biggest upset in UFC history. I don't like to think of it as an upset but I guess it's the one that is dearest to my heart because it got me my belt. I guess that's the greatest upset in my mind ... going down in history and beating somebody who was supposed to be unbeatable. It wasn't an upset in my mind, though, because I knew I could do it.
Okamoto: A few come to mind. Dillashaw's TKO win against Barao is up there for several reasons. It wasn't one opportune punch or submission that did it -- it was nearly 25 full minutes of startling domination. It started to feel more like a series of victory laps than a title fight by the end of it. Another one that pops up immediately for me is Jake Shields' Strikeforce middleweight title fight against Dan Henderson. The fight itself wasn't great, but it felt like at the time Strikeforce brought Henderson in to win that fight and Shields ruined its plans. Of course, Fabricio Werdum over Fedor Emelianenko and (everybody's favorite) Matt Serra over Georges St-Pierre.
Huang: I always will have a soft spot for Chicago cop Mike Russow who came back from two rounds of getting beaten to a pulp by Todd Duffee and caught Duffee with a right and knocked him out. But overall it has to be our own panelist this week Dillashaw and his win over Barao. Even Las Vegas books were stunned. Had I put some money down on TJ, I could have paid off my mortgage!