So Rushy has finally returned to the MMA journalism scene. Well for one, it's about fucking time and two; it had to take something suitably dramatic to drag me out of my slacking pants.
Where've I been? You probably don't care but it's my write up so I'll tell you anyway. Oh for those of you that don't know me, remember me, whatever, I used to write for 5th_Round UK a now defunct MMA news site between 2012 and 2013. That and I'm generally putting my opinion forward on anything MMA related that's slightly controversial.
Anyway, after writing what had to be a rather successful series of articles (one of them hitting first page Google for roughly 12 months) “A Day in the Life”; great series, sparked off a load of copycats don't you know, and then doing a little bit of work for a national newspaper I kind of hit a lull. All dramatics aside I didn't know what to do next or how to top what I'd done. That's not to say I couldn't make an improvement, I could without a doubt, but I don't like the bullshit articles you see all to often in this industry so if I couldn't do something unique or substantial then frankly it wasn't worth my time. I was always paranoid about that; about falling into the trap of churnalism.
Around this time SAFEMMA were in need of volunteers and I wanted to put my time to good use; somebody who has since become a good friend was in need of assistance on getting fighters registered and medically cleared for 'Fight Night' on two promotions... so I stepped in.
It was a hard life; I got to talk to some of UKMMA's finest on a daily basis and led them through the process that at the time was a little complex. That was somewhere in 2012 and now SAFEMMA has come on leaps and bounds, the process is much smoother and my job as it was, is more or less redundant.
So that's me. I'm still very much a lover of the industry; I've got martial arts in my bones so I'll never leave the industry it's just that I'm more background and less opinionated.. ish.
Anyway, I digress slightly and let's get onto the crux of why I'm writing again.
Jon 'Bones' Jones. Done to death? No, this is one you've not read before. This is one article that's not full of speculation, slander and lazy reporting. This article is about what we do know and what we don't know. Nothing more. In my own inimitable style of course.
This last few days has seen a hysteria I don't think I've seen before in the MMA industry. People have been clamouring over themselves to rant and rave about Jonny 'Bones' Jones taking Cocaine and how it's a PED, that he should be suspended and blah blah blah blah blah. Then just as that reached its fever pitch and every man and his dog jumped to twitter to abuse him this latest revelation that his testosterone levels are slightly suspect came out.
My sole intention is to clarify. To give objective reporting on a situation that is being blown massively out of proportion by a lot of people that dislike possibly the greatest mixed martial artist in recent history.
So first; Cocaine.
Fact or fiction? So far from the truth it's almost laughable.
“...concerned drugs of abuse, principally cocaine, rather than performance enhancing substances such as anabolic steroids.” (Mitchell, 2007)
Slightly less academically, this is supported by 'The Testosterone Deficiency Centre' where they state “Cocaine has(sic) lowers Testosterone levels by shifting endocrine balance and activity from the testicles to the adrenal gland.” My old blog explains TRT and testosterone.
From what I know of the drug myself I can further add that while taking the drug you might feel like a king but 30 minutes later you'll feel quite the opposite. They don't call it the 'Columbian cold' without good reason. I don't use but I know people who do and trust me after the effect wears off no matter who they are they wouldn't be doing 25 minutes against a previously undefeated Olympian wrestler.
This leads onto these ridiculous reports that 'Bones' is using synthetics (steroids) because of his t/e levels. Ok first... despite what a few rags are reporting; his test levels were low. Not high. For somebody of his age and in his supposed condition (t/e levels for an athlete in his 20's can be anywhere between 4:1 and 6:1) An average male in his 20's would be around 1:1 so while not abnormally low for the everyday Joe, for an athlete in Jon's condition they are unusually low. For test results click here.
So what does this tell us? Nothing, technically. His urine was tested through the proper routes and his results came back negative of any synthetic steroids and showed no signs of misuse. However, one could surmise that perhaps the reason for Jone's t/e levels being “abnormally low” - frankly this term in this instance bemuses me – is that he uses Cocaine just a bit more than a social user would.
In my own opinion, this supports the theory that there is more behind Jones going into rehab than it just being a publicity stunt. A regular cocaine user – especially an addict - would notice a significant reduction in their testosterone production. This would cause lethargy, mood swings, deterioration in motor functions; I could go on. While Jones doesn't display all of these symptoms – and yes that counteracts the argument he has a habit – it would explain why he doesn't report higher test levels than what would be expected. In fact it would corroborate the slightly lower than the average man testosterone levels reported in the urine samples.
That's me done. So before you go off jumping on the Bones is using Coke as a PED or using steroids/TRT whatever consider the above and perhaps read some of the articles released by the likes of MMA Junkie or MMA Fighting.
Thank you to mmafighting.com, mmajunkie.com, and various sources academic or otherwise for doing the research before I had to.
Much love all.
Rushy aka Old Man Gumby out.
0 comments:
Post a Comment