What the PED Lawsuit Will Look Like in MMA

I’ve previously discussed some of the biggest legal threats to MMA with PED abuse and inadequate policies addressing this being one of them. I’ll confess that when a lawyer talks about the law, especially in a hypothetical situation, it can be a little dry. Enter Ben Miller. Last week Ben authored an article at the Wrestling Observer discussing what the PED lawsuit will look like in MMA. It’s a hypothetical first person account and Ben paints a compelling picture which, unfortunately, is all to easy to see playing out. It starts as follows:

Welcome to my lawsuit.

For years I played your game. I made a lot of money. I had a lot of fun. It was my choice.

But you told me that you were keeping your game safer than you really were. Other players used drugs. They used drugs that made them stronger. More aggressive. Gave them better vision and focus to hit me. You put my health at risk. I knew the game was dangerous. But that was something different. That was like handing my opponent a crowbar before he walked into the cage.

Now I’m screwed. I get angrier than I used to. I forget things that I’ve known for years. People have to tell me their names three or four times. It’s hard to keep a job that way. Or a wife or a family. And you’re still fine. You dissed the rank and file fighters. Now my fight is going to court.

You can click here for the full article which I encourage you to read. The bottom line is PED abuse exists and the inadequate policies addressing this creates a genuine threat to the combat sports industry. This is a fixable problem and reforms can be put into place. Absent these, however, it is likely only a matter of time before a retired athlete will tell the same tale as Ben and when that plays out in Court the damage to the sport will not easily be undone.

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