St-Pierre, Hendricks in testing dispute
By Carlos Arias | The Orange County Register (MCT)
It turns out one of the reasons Georges St-Pierre vacated his UFC welterweight title last month was the lack of drug-testing support he received from the UFC leading up to his fight against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
“It bothered me enormously,” St-Pierre said recently. “That’s one of the reasons why I stopped fighting. Not really to teach them a lesson because that would also punish me. I wanted to do something for the sport. I love the sport. I see the direction it’s going, and I don’t think it makes any sense. This is stupid.”
St-Pierre and Hendricks got into a dispute over how they would be tested before their title fight. St-Pierre offered to pay for Hendricks to be tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, but Hendricks had concerns about VADA’s impartiality.
St-Pierre didn’t name names but made it clear the lack of support for drug testing was a major reason he chose to step away from the sport.
“The only thing I want to say is, I wanted to do something to help those who are honest in the sport. Believe me or not, I never took drugs in my life. I’ll take a lie-detector test; I don’t care. I’m for anti-doping tests. I think it’s a big problem in the sport.
“This is a relatively new sport. There’s one organization that has a monopoly, so the fighters don’t have much power. They can’t really talk because if one says what he thinks, he will get punished.
“If we want the sport to be accepted worldwide … I believe (drug testing) is the thing to do. I think it’s just a matter of time before it happens, it’s just that I tried to make it happen now.”
UFC CEO and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta said he was shocked and extremely disappointed to hear St-Pierre’s comments.
“We’ve always had an open line of communication with him and I’d like to know why he feels that way,” Fertitta said. “It was extremely disappointing to hear Georges make those comments because I don’t think any organization has embraced drug testing as we have. We have not only agreed to pay when the commission has said it wants to do enhanced testing, we’ve encouraged it.
“We have no problem with testing. When we serve as the commission (out of the country where there is no commission), we test everyone on the card so we are thorough and there can be no claims of bias.”
QUICK JABS: Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Mauricio Zingano, 37, the husband and coach of UFC women’s bantamweight contender Cat Zingano, was found dead in his home Jan. 13. Authorities said Zingano committed suicide by hanging himself … The UFC is headed to Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., for UFC on Fox 11 on April 19. UFC officials confirmed Fabricio Werdum will face Travis Browne in the main event with the winner likely securing a heavyweight title shot. Miesha Tate vs. Liz Carmouche has also been confirmed for UFC on Fox 11.
