Phil Baroni’s suspension reduced
Posted by Adam Morgan
According to Sherdog.com, Baroni’s suspension has been reduced by the CSAC from a year to six months and it will be retroactive, meaning that while waiting for his hearing, he has been basically serving the suspension:
Phil Baroni, who tested positive for boldenone and stanozolol metabolites following his submission defeat to Frank Shamrock on June 22 in San Jose, has had his suspension reduced from one year to six months, the California State Athletic Commission ruled on Wednesday afternoon.
The suspension will run retroactive from June 22, making Baroni, 31, eligible to return in December. The New Yorker’s fine of $2500 was upheld.
The CSAC shot down two motions: one to upload the year-long suspension and the other to lift all sanctions. The third and final motion had three votes in favor, two against and one tally for an extension.
This is not only good news for Baroni, but good news for Sean Sherk as well. I would expect the CSAC to reduce his suspension and also make it retroactive from July, meaning he would be eligible to fight in January. BJ Penn v. Joe Stevenson? Hold your horses on that one just yet.
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i suspect dana will strip the title regardless. he can’t knowingly have a champion who admittedly used steroids during his continuing title reign, regardless of what penalties the CSAC levies.
Let’s not forget that Dana and Sherk are boys. I wouldn’t be so sure about Dana stripping the title.
The situation would kinda stink to high heaven if he didn’t strip the title and set up a fight between Penn and Stevenson. They will probably do something like they did with Tim Sylvia after his positive test, strip the belt then render that point moot by making his first fight back for the title (like they did with Mir vs Sylvia.) I thought that was a garbage decision at the time and it looks like history will repeat itself.
They (Zuffa) need to actually PUNISH some one for using roids, something that Dana seems to not want to do. He has pushed all of the disciplinary measures off on the athletic commission.
If Sherk gets his sentence reduced and lets him fight in January this will be a supreme amount of shit. Nick Diaz got 9 months for Marijuana, and Sean Sherks probably gonna get 6 months for an actual performance inhancing drug. Sure Sherk may not have known hed taken a performance inhancing drug but i’m pretty sure Nick Diaz didn’t either.
Sherk also has got to be getting close to getting his title stripped for inactivity as well. He has like 7 month layoffs in between fights, the lightweight division is too stacked for this and it gets the public offside.
I totally agree with all of you that say Dana should strip the title from Sherk. I think it sheds a very negative light on the UFC if they allow their champion to hold on to the title after testing positive for performance enhancers. Dana himself says that he is in this to “grow the sport”, and I think this is a chance for him to make a statement, the Title has to be stripped.
Sam Cupitt also brings up a great point that it is absolutely ridiculous that Nick Diaz gets a harsher sentence for marijuana than guys are getting for steroids.
Oh…and I meant to ask…Did the commsion give a reason for the sentence reduction?
Oh and from what I hear Sherk got an extension..? Maybe he should have gone before them today…It sounds like they were in a generous mood.
Phil Baroni’s suspension being reduced is ridiculous, as is the debacle of Sherk’s submitted paperwork not even being distributed and read by the commissioners. This two-week delay in Sherk’s case, even though it comes after months of delays from Sherk’s reps, is going to make a sympathetic figure out of a guy who tested positive for steroids.
But at least in Sherk’s case he could argue that it was a contaminated supplement or something along those lines, and it COULD be true.
In Baroni’s case, the primary reason that the reduction of the suspension is so ridiculous is because one of the two steroids for which he tested positive was a HORSE steroid (Boldenone). Then again, that was also the case with James Toney (who was a repeat steroid offender), and yet the CSAC inexplicably reduced his suspension as well.
Apparently, if you want to get your steroids suspension reduced in California, the Toney and Baroni cases tell us that the best way to do it is to make sure that the steroid for which you test positive is a horse steroid that would be illegal for any doctor to prescribe to you, or for any supplement company to include even in trace amounts in their supplements.
Horse steroids are the way to go! That way if a fighter says he got them from his doctor, we know that it must be a simple case of the fighter’s doctor being veterinarian who also treats patients with animal steroids on the side. Perfectly understandable!
And if a fighter says he accidentally ingested the horse steroid from a supplement, we know that it must be a simple case of a fighter who likes taking horse supplements because they help the fighter build strong calf muscles, keep his mane shiny, and prevent his hooves from becoming brittle. Again, perfectly understandable!
Plus, a six-month suspension for a fighter who was going to be out for more than six months anyway due to injuries means that it may as well be no suspension. The amount of time that Baroni is going to be out in addition to the time that he would have been out anyway for injury reasons is ZERO. Heck of a way to send a strong anti-steroids message to other MMA fighters.
Here’s some background on Boldenone from an MMAWeekly news story that was written at the time that Stephan Bonnar tested positive for Boldenone:
“According to Food and Drug Administration filings, which cited the Office of New Animal Drug Evaluation, Boldenone is intended for use by veterinarians as “an aid for treating debilitated horses when an improvement in weight, hair coat, or general physical condition is desired.”
The FDA filings added, “Federal law restricts this drug to use by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian.” Due to potential health risks for humans, the FDA has gone so far as to say that Boldenone “should not be administered to horses intended for human consumption.”
The possible side effects of Boldenone when used by humans include high blood pressure, increased water retention, elevated levels of estrogen, possible hair loss, flu-like symptoms, anxiety, and acne.”
Completely agree, Ivan. I actually have some historical data on the odd rulings the CSAC has done, probably going to write about it today. Apparently if you argue, you get a reduced sentence or if you prolong the course of the case, reduced sentence, or do boldenone, reduced sentence.
Anyone listen to the Baroni interview on sherdog.com about his ruling yesterday? Apparently from what I understood, they tested the sample(the positive one), a pre-fight sample, a post-fight sample and then a separate one(didn’t hear specifics on when this was taken) and they all came back negative for the steroids the lab the CSAC used. According to Baroni and Pavia, the company they used from what I understood, did the same test the CSAC lab did and is accredited by the same people the CSAC lab is. And again from what Baroni said in the interview the lab guy from the CSAC, when asked why his test turned up a positive, just said it was because his test was better. Even though again according to them it was the same test.
If in fact what Pavia and Baroni said was true it would seem to damn the CSAC comission a little that the testing done on Baroni only showed 1 positive out of 5 total tests. And I would feel certainly was a good reason to reduce the suspension if not convince me if I were a comissioner to revoke the sentencing all together.
Baroni and Shrek are roid buddies. These guys need to be punished and not slapped on the wrist.
“Anyone listen to the Baroni interview on sherdog.com about his ruling yesterday? Apparently from what I understood, they tested the sample(the positive one), a pre-fight sample, a post-fight sample and then a separate one(didn’t hear specifics on when this was taken) and they all came back negative for the steroids the lab the CSAC used. ”
A second and third post-fight test being negative doesn’t prove anything other than the liklihood that the athlete was trying to cycle off of the steroids in time for his drug test and mis-timed it. As for the “pre-fight sample,” how do we know it’s really a pre-fight sample?
Let’s not mistake the incompetence of the CSAC for Phil Baroni having accidentally ingested illegal horse steroids.
From what they said and for what I understood Ivan, they tested the actual positive sample as well as the extra post fight samples and they all came back negative. As for the how do we know it’s really a pre-fight sample? That’s why I said according to them, not according to my knowledge. Plus asking that question is like me asking how do we know the CSAC test is right? We don’t know anything about any of it, just what they tell us.