St. Pierre criticizes UFC anti-doping: 'They don't want to change for fear of losing money'

GSP (photo) says the UFC's anti-doping policy helped in his decision to step away from MMA. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

Georges St Pierre announced after his victory against John hendricks, at UFC 167, in November, who would step away from the sport indefinitely. The Canadian gave up his welterweight belt claiming he needed time to deal with personal problems. However, two months after his decision, GSP revealed that there is another reason for his removal: the UFC's anti-doping policy.

In an interview with the Canadian channel RDS, St. Pierre stated that he needed to do something for the sport and that he does not agree with the path adopted by the UFC and athletic commissions for anti-doping tests.

“This (doping tests) is one of the reasons why I stopped. Not to teach a lesson, even because I penalized myself too. This bothered me a lot. But I'm a public person and I need to keep quiet about some things. But I wanted to do something for the sport I love. I see the direction things are going and I don't think it makes any sense. Nobody wants to talk about it (doping tests), but it needs to be debated. This is a problem. This is stupid,” he stated.

Without naming names, GSP raised suspicions about the athletes' preparation for their fights. Furthermore, the Canadian also discussed the UFC's position, which would be frivolous in following so as not to lose money by canceling fights due to doping.

“I think the issue of anti-doping is a big problem within sport. Remember I'm an athlete and I have inside information. I know what happens. Unfortunately, some people, perhaps for fear of losing money, don't want to change anything. Because what would the image of the sport be like if you were forced to cancel fights because the fighter tested positive. If you start testing everyone, how many will get caught? I don't want to speak in public, and I'm not accusing anyone, but the image of the sport would be affected. MMA is a relatively new sport and there is a monopoly, so fighters don't have much power. They cannot speak because if they say what they think, they could be punished,” he added.

The 32-year-old fighter continued to criticize the controversial TRT (hormone replacement treatment), which is used by athletes such as Vitor belfort and Chael Sonnen. “Everyone knows who, when, where and how. There are people, some doctors, and everyone goes to see them. Where there is money, there are ways to cheat and that will always be the case”, he concluded.

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