Mark Bocek: The UFC Has To Say They Are Cleaning Up The Sport, But Where Are Your Exciting Fights Without PEDs?

When former UFC lightweight Mark Bocek recently retired from MMA, he wasn’t shy about the reason for his exit.

Bocek placed the blame largely on what he called rampant use of performance-enhancing drug (PEDs) in fighting. The Canadian claimed he knew when his training partners were using banned substances because they suddenly had way more strength and stamina.

It’s no secret that PEDs, along with the highly controversial testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT), are one of the most hotly debated topics in all of MMA this year; they may just be the most.

But while the UFC claims to be extremely committed to rooting out the dangerous drugs in the Octagon, Bocek appeared on today’s The MMA Hour to purvey his belief that the UFC’s management doesn’t necessarily want steroids and other PEDs to leave the sport, because it could lead to a sharp decrease in pay-per-view (PPV) viewership:

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“Let me put it this way, if I’m the UFC, maybe I don’t want all of this WADA or VADA or voluntary testing. Because if you start doing all this type of testing, the results come out before the events do, right? Then you don’t cash in on your pay-per-view (PPV) money. But, if you deal with this lax commission testing, the results come out after the pay-per-view, so it’s a little more convenient.

That’s looking from the UFC perspective.

They have to say that they are (cleaning up the sport) for the sponsors because no sponsor wants to be associated with a dirty sport and they have to make it look like they are completely against PEDs. But where are all of your exciting fights without PEDs?”

Bocek cites the more stringent WADA and VADA testing, a strict and voluntary testing regimen that Georges St. Pierre got into hot water for suggesting that he and former opponent Johny Hendricks take part in prior to their UFC 167 main event last November, a fight that St. Pierre eventually won by controversial split decision.

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Regardless of that, however, Bocek makes some extremely strong accusations by insinuating that the UFC’s exciting bouts are fueled mainly by PEDs.

It seems like he’s suggesting that the UFC only wants to say they are striving to clean up the sport in the public eye while silently reaping the benefits of fighter performance under the surface. In a certain way, he may be right, as many fighters have come forth with absolutely insane estimates of the percentage of fighters that use illegal and/or banned substances in an effort to get a leg up on their opponents.

Bocek recently returned from a nearly 17-month absence to defeat Mike De La Torre at April’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Nations Finale in what would turn out to be his final UFC bout. He leaves the promotion with a 7-5 record, with his losses coming to top competition like Frankie Edgar, Benson Henderson, Jim Miller, and Rafael dos Anjos.

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Yet he could never rise to the peak of the sport, and he shows a hint of bitterness by blaming PEDs for his retirement. Still, there’s obviously no doubt that they are having a big effect on MMA, and will continue to do so.

Is Bocek looking to drum up attention for himself in a fight game that has passed him by?

Photo: Eric Bolte for USA TODAY Sports