The Steroid Double Standard (or Why is everyone hatin on Josh Barnetto)
Posted by George Do on June 17th, 2011
After a rather long layoff caused by internet problems, graduation, and a two week trip to South America, I’m back spouting MMA related nonsense once again.
This week, I’ll be examining what I feel is a common double standard amongst MMA fans and media. It seems to me that Josh Barnett gets an undue amount of hate from all corners of the MMA world. The majority of this negative emotion supposedly stems from the fact that Barnett has been caught using steroids. But the truth is, there is a laundry list of MMA fighters who have been caught - and not one of those guys is the target of such scorn as Mr. Barnett.
Here is a list of well known fighters who have been caught (or admitted to) using steroids:
Tim Sylvia
Nate Marquardt
Vitor Belfort
Stephan Bonnar
Royce Gracie
Phil Baroni
Sean Sherk
Hermes Franca
Dennis Hallman
Antonio Silva
Chris Leben
Ken Shamrock
Chael Sonnen (R)
James Irvin
Thiago Silva
Jeff Monson (never caught, but admitted it)
(Source: http://www.cagepotato.com/mma-steroid-busts-definitive-timeline/)
That list is quite extensive. I hold the position that if you’re going to be outraged at Barnett, then be outraged at every fighter on that list. Yes, some of these cases have extenuating circumstances - Antonio Silva, for example, apparently needs to take steroids because he is some sort of mutant. Nevertheless, knowingly or unknowingly, each of the fighters in the list above has broken the rules laid down by the athletic commission and probably derived some sort of advantage from breaking those rules. Yes, Barnett has been caught three times, but as far as I’m concerned, a cheat is a cheat is a cheat. It doesn’t matter if a husband breaks his vows once or thrice, he’s still an adulterer. The same applies to this.
I also hear some people saying that it’s not the fact that he used steroids, it’s the fact that he’s so unapologetic about the whole thing. I find this line of argument hilarious. Let’s suppose that Chris Leben, or Hermes Franca, or any of these guys hadn’t been caught. You think they would still be apologetic? Or do you think they’d still be injecting themselves? Roided up athletes are never really sorry that they used - they are only sorry that they got caught. That’s why they are only ever ‘apologetic’ after pissing hot.
Last but not least, there are the people who insinuate that Barnett is a ‘bad person’ because he roided. This argument makes the least sense. As far as I can see, Barnett is an approachable, intelligent, and sometimes hilarious man. Whilst cheating is bad, one (or two, or three) bad acts in a lifetime don’t necessarily make a bad person. Sometimes I feel like if Barnett started acting like a lunatic, people be more sympathetic. God knows it’s worked for Chael Sonnen (R), who, despite having been caught for steroids as well as mortgage fraud, seems to be popular with the fans because he’s entertaining and “has issues”.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is, if you hate on Josh Barnett, but you don’t hate on other steroid offenders, just be honest with yourself. You don’t hate him because of the roids. The roids are just an easy excuse for you to hate him. I’ll admit it myself - when I was denied the chance to see him face off against Fedor, I was livid. But I wasn’t mad because he got caught roiding. I was mad because I didn’t get to see what would’ve been an epic fight.
So stop hatin on Josh Barnetto. And on the off chance that you can’t let go of your hate, at least be honest about it. You don’t hate him for roiding. Maybe you hate him because he’s got a baby face that can also grow a beard. Maybe you hate him because he knows a thousand different suplexes. You might hate him for a thousand different reasons, but unless you also hate Sean Sherk, Chris Leben, Royce Gracie and Vitor Belfort, you don’t hate him for roids.