Judging by the reaction on social media to Pat Healy’s positive drug test for marijuana, I know I’m not the only one who thinks that MMA’s current drug policy is all kinds of ridiculous.
On Tuesday night, Healy announced in a statement sent to the media that he tested positive for pot after his UFC 159 bout against Jim Miller, a fight that was so exciting it garnered both fighters a “Fight of the Night” bonus cheque, as well as an additional
“Submission of the Night” bonus to Healy for his brilliant third-round rear-naked-choke finish. According to Healy, who manned up to his mistake in the statement, he smoked the drug recreationally while out with a few old friends about a month ago. The metabolites stayed in his system for longer than anticipated, and thus he was suspended for taking a banned substance.
The overseeing athletic commission – the New Jersey State Athletic Control board – suspended Healy for three months and will overturn his win over Miller, which was by far the biggest of Healy’s 46-fight career, to a No Contest. But that’s not even close to harshest penalty Healy received.
In addition to being suspended and losing the win over Miller from his record, Healy has also been docked $130,000, as the UFC took away both of his bonus awards. It’s been the UFC’s policy that they withhold the bonus money until all fighters’ drug tests come back clean, and Healy’s came back positive.
According to UFC president Dana White on Twitter, “It’s known up front that checks are held until everyone passed the drug test…Healy did himself dirty.”
I can’t even begin to tell you how ridiculous this whole situation is.
First off, marijuana shouldn’t be a banned substance. There is no way in hell that the green herb is a performance-enhancing drug, and the fact that being caught for it carries a similar penalty to testing positive for steroids is absolutely absurd. Yes, marijuana is on the WADA banned list and fighters need to know better, but it’s not like Healy got high and then went into the cage that night against Miller stoned. He smoked a month ago with some friends socially, probably thinking the metabolites would come out of his system in time for the fight. Was it a stupid thing to do? Absolutely. But it shouldn’t be a life-changing mistake, and unfortunately for Healy, it will be.
You have to understand that $130,000 is likely more than Healy has ever made in his entire mixed martial arts career, which has spanned over a decade. I don’t know Pat personally, but I do know his brother Ryan Healy (also a pro fighter), and I know how much that money would have meant to their family. You have to understand that the Healy brothers grew up doing mixed martial arts before it was even sanctioned. When they were teenagers they were fighting underground fights in Oregon that don’t appear on their record. They were fighting for hundreds of dollars just so that they could pay for the gas in their cars and their rent. They had no luxuries. But they kept at it because it was what they were born to do. After a one-and-done stint in the UFC back in 2006, it took Pat seven years to get back to the UFC and he put on the performance of a lifetime against Miller, and now it was all for naught, all because he smoked a little bit of pot.
I’ve seen a lot of people compare this situation to when Nick Diaz was suspended for marijuana metabolites following UFC 143 and was fined $80,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, but to me the case is completely different. Diaz is a headlining fighter who has easily made over $1,000,000 in his career, but Healy probably hasn’t even made a tenth of that. That lost $130,000 is probably a life changer for Healy in more ways than any of us will ever know. It’s probably more money than Healy has seen in his entire life, and now it’s all gone. And all because he smoked a joint. Think about that for a second.
Weed or no weed, Healy beat Miller that night, and the win should stand. Smoking a month before the fight didn’t change anything at all during the fight, and it makes no sense to take away a fighters’ win for taking something that is becoming more and more socially acceptable by the day in countries all over the world, and especially in the United States. Sure, give Healy a suspension for the technicality of having marijuana metabolites in his system, but don’t take away his win. And don’t take away his hard-earned bonus money.
Perhaps the thing that bothers me so much about this situation is that White and Zuffa VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner have been public in the last few months with their belief that the current drug policy is outdated and that marijuana shouldn’t be classified as a banned substance. Since the UFC is a private company, they didn’t have to take away the bonus money from Healy, but they chose to. And that’s sending a very contradicting message. The UFC decisionmakers had the chance to take the stance here that they really do believe pot shouldn’t be banned by letting Healy keep his bonus money, but they didn’t do that, and I’m extremely disappointed in them.
The same week that Healy was suspended for marijuana is the same week that Vitor Belfort will walk into the cage against Luke Rockhold all jacked up on testosterone replacement therapy, and with the UFC’s direct knowledge of it. And I know I’m not the only one who finds that messed up.
Athletes need to be careful about what they put in their system, and Healy should have known better before smoking up. But the fact his whole life is going to be turned upside down for making one small mistake makes me cringe at the current drug policy in MMA, and I hope this is the incident where we realize there’s a problem here and it needs to be fixed.
