Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: UFC 146 Results: Junior dos Santos TKO's Frank Mir

Gina Carano Discusses Cyborg Santos Steroid Test Results

Gina Carano in GQ

In just a week, the Steven Soderbergh movie 'Haywire' will be released. Despite initial poor reviews, the movie is being well-received by those that have had the opportunity to view it before the nationwide release. Featuring a cast of Hollywood greats, the spy-thriller's success will determine Gina Carano's future in both MMA and acting.

Carano walked away from MMA after a first round destruction at the hands of Cristiane Santos. Though fans didn't want to admit it at the time, the loss of Carano was a nail in the figurative coffin for women's MMA. While Strikeforce attempted to fill the void with names like Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey, both attractive females in their own right, neither was able to capture the male audience like Gina Carano.

At Strikeforce: Melendez vs Masvidal, Santos successfully defended her featherweight belt against Hiroko Yamanka only to have the decision overturned after a positive test for Stanozolol. Santos became the first major female fighter to test positive for PEDs and her positive test has opened up discussion and discourse over if it will be the death of WMMA.

Thomas Myers of MMA Mania had the opportunity to speak with the former "face of women's MMA" Gina Carano to get her thoughts on Cyborg's positive test and if it changed her opinion on the outcome of their fight. Her response is pretty surprising.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't hurt by the whole thing. That fight with her was definitely the biggest moment of my mixed martial arts (MMA) career and at that time I had people around me telling me she was on steroids and everything. But, if there was a chance that she wasn't, I never wanted to take anything away from her [win]. She is a wonderful athlete, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't sting a little. In fact, I could have gone the rest of my life without hearing that. But, at the same time, she's a human being and a phenomenal athlete, so maybe someone around her was telling her she needed to do that when she really didn't. Maybe it was someone around her telling her the wrong things, I don't know. She's going to have a tough enough time getting people to believe in her [after this], so she's going to go through her own problems. I sympathize with her sometimes -- we all make mistakes in life. And, she's going through that very publicly in front of a lot of people who already thought that she [was using steroids]. I kind of feel bad for her.

Emphasis mine. Carano's point of view is the same as most of ours. Going forward Cyborg will have to deal with the fans and media who will doubt her at every turn. Even if all of her subsequent drug tests are passed, she'll still be the female fighter who took steroids.

It also creates an interesting 'parallel universe' scenario where if Cyborg doesn't beat Carano, WMMA continues to grow and thrive on the commercial success of Gina Carano. Instead, the 145 pound title is all but dead and the future is bleak for the women's featherweight division.

Comment 81 comments  |  0 recs  | 

Do you like this story?

Comments

Display:

what a gentle lady she is

considering how many women Cyborg hurt, tkod and injured due to roids, it’s pretty big,
wanted to say FIRST but Cory posted first, snap! :D

by Nodir Shermatov on Jan 12, 2012 3:10 PM EST reply actions  

this is the problem. People arenow going to assume she was on steroids for all her past fights. Despite the possibility that it’s true there’s no evidence of it

Quietly leading Cecil Peoples Champs to victory and beyond.

All in the game yo, all in the game

by Our Bovine Public on Jan 12, 2012 3:39 PM EST up reply actions  

Actually the problem is that she got popped for roids… the rest of the problems come along with getting popped… Evidence, Assumptions, Public Ridicule… that’s cyborgs cross to bare and right fully so. When you cheat you forfeit your right to say what’s fair or not…

Visit fiveouncesofpain.com

by RECE ROCK on Jan 12, 2012 3:53 PM EST up reply actions  

aside from the visual guesses we all had in the first place

The artful muppet formerly known as KrmtDfrog.
Please read my sardonic wit and over-blown sense of self over at headkicklegend.com

by Cory Braiterman on Jan 12, 2012 3:53 PM EST up reply actions  

wanted to say FIRST but Cory posted first, snap! :D

Here’s some free advice: don’t do that. Not only is it incredibly retarded, people who post “First” around here get their posts deleted and a warning and usually get a warning that the next “First” will mean a ban. But mostly it’s just incredibly retarded.

by Chromium on Jan 12, 2012 5:37 PM EST up reply actions   2 recs

now that u say that, I just kid, man. I always kid in a positive way.

you don’t have to make an elephant from a fly. And I will keep that in mind next time:). no more)
btw, what do u guys think, will this incident discredit all of Cyborg’s accomplishments by now? I believe it require far more than steroids to do what she has been able to do, to be such an amazing athlete. it’s sad to find out these news.

by Nodir Shermatov on Jan 12, 2012 7:44 PM EST up reply actions  

I though he was meaning he wanted to post having his shoulder available for Gina to cry on first, but Cory beat him to it. But like you said, if he meant to just say “First” that sounds ban-worthy to me. I was hoping to offer up my shoulder as well, then her finding it too bony she offers to switch me onto her shoulder thus making my life complete…or causing a singularity.

Oh no you didn't.--Nick Ring

by NickRingp4pGOAT on Jan 13, 2012 11:23 AM EST up reply actions  

good girl Gina

I knew that dude was juiced up. See you next year big man Cyborg.

by biggant on Jan 12, 2012 3:12 PM EST via mobile reply actions  

is it just me..

…or is Cyborg taking a lot more heat for this than most of the guys who have failed tests?

Obvious exception being repeat offenders like Barnett

by rexthedog on Jan 12, 2012 3:14 PM EST reply actions  

Not especially, no, to most people with half a brain the fact that she was on steroids was a given

She was also the title holder in her weight class.

"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."

by menckenstein on Jan 12, 2012 3:15 PM EST up reply actions  

You could argue it’s a bit sexist, and I think there is a good argument for that. But I think it’s a bit natural for guys to feel a bit protective over seeing women get beaten up. The reason steroids are an issue in combat sports is the extra advantage they give translate into the potential for someone to get seriously hurt. That factor probably gets amplified by seeing what basically looks like Pride-era Wandy kurbstomping someone who is presented to the viewer as a sex symbol.

"You're one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan, Designed and directed by his red right hand"

by brad23 on Jan 12, 2012 3:36 PM EST up reply actions   2 recs

Negative...

Most people that have been popped the last few years and got a pass have people who you look at and go…really?

IE: Leben/Bonnar/Hallman/Silva/

The people that are given hell are either A: Loudmouths(Shamrock/Sonnen), B: Repeat Offenders( Barnett/Marquardt), C: “Obvious Cases”(Thiago Silva/Sherk and now Cyborg)

I’d say she is catching a pretty equitable amount of heat all things considered.

by Jacob Hayes on Jan 12, 2012 4:29 PM EST up reply actions  

It’s very simple: it’s reasonable to assume that many male fighters juice, thus equal playing field. It’s also reasonable to assume that most female fighters don’t. So instead of a fight like Sherk vs whoever, you end up with fights like cyborgs last travesty. She ends up looking like a roided out bully, and no one like a bully. This is why Cyborg never had any fans to begin with.

by Hutchy on Jan 12, 2012 4:35 PM EST via mobile up reply actions   1 recs

Maybe female fighters are less likely to take steroids

So whenever someone does, it gets more heat. Also because she was a champ ,and that much better than the competition didnt win her any fans.

by Mejis on Jan 12, 2012 5:42 PM EST up reply actions  

exactly my thoughts

but she’s the CHAMPION. that must be the core reason, also a female. but errbodey tends to overlook Chael’s frauds, Dan’s TRT and etc. especially CHAEL P. SONNEN :)

by Nodir Shermatov on Jan 12, 2012 7:46 PM EST up reply actions  

I think a lot of it is because so many people refused to bring up the topic before she failed the test. Everyone was thinking it but nobody in the MMA press would touch it with a 10 foot pole.

by MadNachos on Jan 12, 2012 3:19 PM EST reply actions  

Man, why are all these chicks so nice about it? “I feel bad for her”, etc. I would be pissed and spewing venom at her, definitely not any sympathy (unless I too was using). Ah, women…

See and learn the secret death touch!

by Horselover Fat on Jan 12, 2012 3:22 PM EST reply actions  

They still have empathy since they’re not all roided out or suffering from testosterone poisoning.

A thousand years ago five minutes were
Equal to forty ounces of fine sand -- Nabokov

by mollcutpurse on Jan 12, 2012 3:27 PM EST up reply actions   1 recs

Or taking PEDs themselves. :)

"A belt only covers two inches of your ****and the rest you need to back up on your own." Royce Gracie (allegedly...I just read it somewhere and thought it was cool for my sig!)

by KGNLuc on Jan 12, 2012 4:27 PM EST up reply actions  

Exactly

They’re smart enough to not say anything that might bite them in the ass later.

"I'm ready for fight. If I'm win, no win. I don't know. But, I'm ready for fight. This is my working[shrugs shoulders]" - Anderson Silva

"You'll get Lil Wayne in woman pants and like it!" - Krimson

by TheFilt on Jan 12, 2012 4:48 PM EST up reply actions  

Think about it

Women who play sports are entering a realm in which they are doing traditionally male activities. All female athletes have to fight stereotypes and work 10x as hard to be pretty so that people don’t call them men. If you read these forums (or worse, Mania) in any article related to Cyborg even before the steroid test, it wasn’t even an implication about her cheating but rather how much they wouldn’t want to “fuck her.”

Personally, though I’m offended by all cheaters, I can understand why women would feel a special bond over the fact that they’re constantly facing societal pressures to be extra feminine to “make up for” their athletic talent.

by Scott Whitaker on Jan 12, 2012 10:14 PM EST up reply actions  

Eh.. I guess so, maybe.

See and learn the secret death touch!

by Horselover Fat on Jan 13, 2012 9:03 AM EST up reply actions  

i cant care less

What gina thinks of cyborgs failed test. Is rather hear her explain why she wasn’t cleared to fight last time.

by filo bedo on Jan 12, 2012 3:28 PM EST via mobile reply actions  

The doctor saw her beautiful face and couldn't bear to see her take anymore punishment like she did in the Cyborg fight

He was protecting her, out of love.

"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."

by menckenstein on Jan 12, 2012 3:31 PM EST up reply actions  

It also creates an interesting ‘parallel universe’ scenario

What kind of Star Trek (2009) kinda bullshit is this!

No, your dumb

by RashadsLeftNipple on Jan 12, 2012 3:35 PM EST reply actions  

great show

Quietly leading Cecil Peoples Champs to victory and beyond.

All in the game yo, all in the game

by Our Bovine Public on Jan 12, 2012 3:41 PM EST up reply actions  

I meant the movie (from 2009)

They created an alternate reality in that movie to get away with doing odd things (2 spocks).

No, your dumb

by RashadsLeftNipple on Jan 12, 2012 3:47 PM EST up reply actions  

I was randomly thinking of Star Trek the other day (Next Generation specifically) and it strikes me as funny how much more advanced today’s tablets are than Star Trek’s “futuristic” datapads.

by Machiel Van on Jan 12, 2012 3:56 PM EST up reply actions  

TNG was the best, really loved that show.

It’s about time they should make a new Star Trek series, methinks.

See and learn the secret death touch!

by Horselover Fat on Jan 12, 2012 4:19 PM EST up reply actions  

HBO Star Trek reboot.

I am free because I choose to be so-Me

by Kefka on Jan 12, 2012 7:37 PM EST up reply actions  

His review of Star Wars was mostly positive, considering the way he reviews things

Hell Plinkett even cited some stuff from Star Wars as a positive contrast in his review of Episode III.

by Chromium on Jan 12, 2012 5:41 PM EST up reply actions  

oh yeah sorry I meant the movie too but referred to it as a show just to confuse everything

Quietly leading Cecil Peoples Champs to victory and beyond.

All in the game yo, all in the game

by Our Bovine Public on Jan 12, 2012 4:23 PM EST up reply actions  

I’m glad they chose that photo of Gina to go with the story. It shows her sadness…especially with her throbbing chest, heaving from sobs, glistening with tears…….. uh, oh….be right back…

by ( . Y . ) on Jan 12, 2012 3:37 PM EST reply actions  

Woman is a complex language indeed...

Stupid Rosetta Stone, hurry up with that one.

"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."

by menckenstein on Jan 12, 2012 3:56 PM EST up reply actions  

It’s like trying to read Shakespeare. One of these days I’ll get it. I’ve got one phrase down. “I’m fine” means that I should set my face on fire and walk away.

If you can't wow them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit.
LSU! LSU! LSU! LSU! LSU! LSU!

by DayGeaux on Jan 12, 2012 4:02 PM EST up reply actions  

Good ol’ passive aggressiveness. Not annoying at all.

by Machiel Van on Jan 12, 2012 4:05 PM EST up reply actions  

bitch

Quietly leading Cecil Peoples Champs to victory and beyond.

All in the game yo, all in the game

by Our Bovine Public on Jan 12, 2012 4:25 PM EST up reply actions   2 recs

The speed in which “I’m fine” is said also alters its meaning.

Fuck you, double fingers
- Nick Diaz
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society
- Mark Twain

by TheLastEmpress on Jan 12, 2012 4:10 PM EST up reply actions  

This is true

If you can't wow them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit.
LSU! LSU! LSU! LSU! LSU! LSU!

by DayGeaux on Jan 12, 2012 4:12 PM EST up reply actions  

Sounds about right

and I agree though I can’t get by the article’s photos so I’m biased.

by Coeman on Jan 12, 2012 4:25 PM EST up reply actions  

She's a cheater, plain and simple.

Just like Sonnen, Marquart and all the others who just happened to get caught. She could gtfo of MMA for all I care.

by Kid Kimura on Jan 12, 2012 4:18 PM EST reply actions   1 recs

OH NOES!!

There’s a hole in her panty hoes. Let me fix it with my penis.

Winter is coming...

by Danthemmaman on Jan 12, 2012 4:54 PM EST reply actions  

the sympathy people feel for steroid cheaters is weird

it’s like, “oh no, wow, that’s going to devalue all of her accomplishments now.”

well NO SHIT. she cheated. and not like barry bonds, who just fucked up the ERA for a bunch of pitchers. she cheated in a way which increased the risk of injury to her opponents.

also sick of hearing this:

“there’s no evidence that she cheated any other time.”

fun fact! the fact that she cheated this time IS IN FACT evidence that she cheated other times! just not direct evidence.

also, i should point out that this isn’t a court of law. the rules of evidence in court are not the same as the rules of just making day-to-day inferences. for instance, if my watch goes missing and i say to my roommate: “did you see my watch?” and he says: “i don’t have to answer that question.” i start thinking that motherfucker took my watch. a judge can’t do that, but i can.

same here.

i will reserve my sympathy for carano – since she had her whole career derailed by someone who may have been cheating (but she will never know for sure). although i’m not that sympathetic since now she’s a movie star.

by Clifford J on Jan 12, 2012 5:07 PM EST reply actions   1 recs

Ding, ding, ding...

"Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid." -John Wayne
Death before dishonor, drinks before lunch.
Never send sheep to kill a wolf.

by The American Ronin on Jan 13, 2012 1:14 AM EST up reply actions  

cyborg, even if she wasn't on the juice

would still be a monster.

Over the past few weeks and probably months to come we’ll probably her some drowns from her victims.

enjoy your fame gina, cyborg beat you into an actress, be atleast thankful for that.

I am willing to test myself against the toughest fighters in the world, in front of hundreds of thousands or even millions of fans, over and over again. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but I always come to fight. I've been doing this for the past fourteen years, and I have at least a few more strong years left in me. What have you done in the past fourteen years other than act like a moron on this forum and hang on Anderson's nuts? - Dan Henderson.

by elmojo on Jan 12, 2012 5:18 PM EST reply actions  

actually, she wouldn't be

Cyborg was a sloppy to fair fighter before she was on the juice. Here’s a video, which Joe Rogan talked about on his podcast, of how different she was before the roids. Not much strength or technique or balance. She pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSOF4xqDK9w

by femalefightfan on Jan 12, 2012 9:54 PM EST up reply actions  

her coaches after that fight

http://www.explosm.net/comics/2533/

A thousand years ago five minutes were
Equal to forty ounces of fine sand -- Nabokov

by mollcutpurse on Jan 12, 2012 10:01 PM EST up reply actions  

..yeah her first mma fight

I am willing to test myself against the toughest fighters in the world, in front of hundreds of thousands or even millions of fans, over and over again. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but I always come to fight. I've been doing this for the past fourteen years, and I have at least a few more strong years left in me. What have you done in the past fourteen years other than act like a moron on this forum and hang on Anderson's nuts? - Dan Henderson.

by elmojo on Jan 13, 2012 1:24 AM EST up reply actions  

she deserves because she was supposedly P4P the best woman...

think if jonny “bones” jones tested posted for steroids…people would throw all kinds of books at him and it would be made a huge deal too…in reality, maybe cyborg went a little too far in the last match she had and got caught finally…and of course you have to question every fight shes had including the one against miss. carano…same shit applies like if it was baseball…you cant tell me some of those home runs barry bonds and mark mcquire hit aren’t QUESTIONABLE…and it should really make u think…this WOULD of changed the face of wmma if she was caught sooner, maybe gina would of never left…

by JGaLaXY on Jan 12, 2012 5:37 PM EST reply actions  

Anyone with half a brain

Knows Megumi Fuji is the P4P best female fighter.

by discoandherpes on Jan 12, 2012 10:22 PM EST up reply actions  

Oddly enough, it is possible that she might be telling the truth about this (not knowing what it was or that it was banned),

because if she knows anything at all about drugs and testing, she would know that this has at least a 3 week detection window, and if she was using it for cutting as she said, it would have to be used almost right up until the weigh-in, although perhaps she was relying on some sort of masking agent that didn’t work this time.

There is no two ways about it, she used a banned product, and any ignorance is no excuse, but this particular drug is not much of a PED used alone.

Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if she also used other AAS drugs, but I believe something on the order of perhaps 80% or so of professional combat athletes (and NFL players for that matter) have used a banned substance as a PED at one time or another.

And I have to say, having seen pics of her from a few years ago, some sort of natural explanation (i.e. an endocrine problem of some sort) is highly unlikely, and absent a serious endocrine issue (and I have no idea if there even is one that would allow this), the female body simply can not add that sort of lean muscle mass unaided.

"Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid." -John Wayne
Death before dishonor, drinks before lunch.
Never send sheep to kill a wolf.

by The American Ronin on Jan 12, 2012 7:15 PM EST reply actions  

We need comparison pics like we have of Reem, now and early in Cyborgs career.

I am free because I choose to be so-Me

by Kefka on Jan 12, 2012 7:45 PM EST reply actions  

Here it is!

The video of Cyborg before roids. She was a fair to poor fighter at most with a slim, unimpressive build. Joe Rogan talked about this video in his podcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSOF4xqDK9w

by femalefightfan on Jan 12, 2012 9:56 PM EST up reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

"I'm working on the intricacies of details of maneuvers that he still doesn't even know the names of." - Frank Mir

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Chilli_pickle_283g_hot_small
Junior Dos Santos' Worst UFC Win is Stefan Struve
Wario_small
BECW3 UFC 146 Recap & Live Post discussion
Wario_small
BECW3 UFC 146 Live Post
Madmen_icon_small
Dan Hardy: The Outlaw (Short documentary film)
Me_2_small
Farewell Frank Mir

Recent FanPosts

Small
USA chants during ufc fights!?!?!?!?!?
220px-johnnycash1969_small
Fighters you aren't sold on ?
Small
Duane Ludwig's chasm...ouch
Rousimar-palhares-picture_small
An Appeal to SBNation
Lebowski_excited_grin_small
Top 5 Potential Replacements for Vitor Belfort Against Wanderlei Silva
Obp_small
Help me get a job

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

MMA Rankings

USA Today / SB Nation Consensus MMA Rankings