Opinion: The Fault in Our MMA Stars

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Editor's note: The views & opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

MMA is in a strange place.

Closing in on its first quarter-century of existing in the American consciousness, the sport is undergoing a change as another wave of fighters washes out to make room for the new breed. What is interesting about the current crop of fading MMA stars is that their memories will be tarnished due to some outside-the-cage indiscretions.

Middleweight veteran Michael Bisping recently spoke out against former pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva, stating that he was no longer interested in fighting the Brazilian due to Silva testing positive for steroids after UFC 183.

“The fact is, I kind of said to myself recently, ‘Anybody that tests positive for performance-enhancing drugs, I want no part of it,’” Bisping told MMAJunkie Radio. “As far as I’m concerned, you’ve been a cheat. I don’t think that at 39 years old, having the career that Anderson Silva had, I don’t think you make the decision at 39 years old to try this new thing called steroids. I think he must have been on the juice the whole time.”

Silva isn’t the only MMA mainstay whose reputation has taken a hit. Vitor Belfort is another former champion who has seen his public image dealt several mighty blows after failing a drug test at Pride 32 and being embroiled in a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) controversy throughout the latter half of his career. Luke Rockhold, whose only loss since 2007 came against a TRT-infused Belfort, took “The Phenom” to task during an appearance on the “Three Amigos” podcast.

“Vitor has been dirty his whole career,” Rockhold stated. “There’s a lot of guys that cheat, and then there’s Vitor. It’s just another level. He’s just on everything you could possibly imagine, and it’s been that way since he was 19 years old.”

The old guard of MMA hasn’t exactly transitioned out in the most graceful manner. Tito Ortiz, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Rua, B.J. Penn and a host of others may not be embroiled in questionable drug practices, but they aren’t close to what they once were. The sport has a weird way of completely forgetting about the fighters who helped pave the way for the future as soon as they leave their prime years.

Diehard MMA fans will always remember watching Silva torment the middleweight division, Mirko Filipovic’s phenomenal head kicks and Fedor Emelianenko’s torrid run in Pride. However, the sport is still young and not getting the attention it deserves in mainstream media. Nor does it have the tenure and allure of boxing; MMA isn’t quite respected as its pugilistic peer.

The current crop of MMA stars could create a legacy that extends outside the Octagon. Ronda Rousey has done her best to establish herself as a superstar and not just an MMA star, but even she is one loss or scandal away from having the fickle MMA universe turn its back. Jon Jones appeared set for stardom before his antics outside of fighting. Conor McGregor has already proven himself golden in terms of drawing power, but he’s yet to truly prove that he’ll stand amongst the elite when it’s all said and done.

MMA has yet to get over the hump and prove itself a mainstream commodity. That could be due to the sport still being in its infant stages in comparison to other major sports from around the globe. MMA still has wrinkles to iron out, and fighters need to do their part by not getting caught up in failed drug tests or HBO “Real Sports” specials which paint these disciplined artists as mindless brutes who are one indiscretion away from being locked up and having their legacies tarnished forever.

Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.