UFC commentator and personality Joe Rogan suspects that Pride icon and MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko was using performance enhancing drugs throughout his decorated career.
In Joe's latest fan favourite podcast - "Joe Rogan Experience" - the all-star media personality hosted the talk show alongside guests Bryan Callen, Eddie Bravo, Brendan Schaub and John Wayne Parr. The fight enthusiasts gathered round to spectate and chat about UFC Fight Night 61, which saw UFC veteran and pioneer Frank Mir quickly dispose of Antonio "BigFoot" Silva via knock out in the opening round.
During the penultimate hour of the show, the topic of conversation gradually steered towards the controversial use of PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) currently plaguing the MMA spectrum.
From the 2:33:32 mark of the video, K-1 and boxing combatant John Wayne Parr quizzed Rogan on whether or not he thought the enigmatic Russian - Fedor Emelianenko - had maintained a clean, drug free career.
"Until you know for sure you can’t say you know, but I would imagine the possibility (of Fedor having used PEDs) is high.…He looked big.
Go back and look at what he looked like against Fujita. He was a thick motherf*cker. He didn’t look anything like he looked when he fought "Bigfoot" Silva.
So what happened? Did he stop lifting weights? That’s possible.
Or, did he stop taking whatever the f*ck he was taking? That’s possible too".
With pound for pound great Anderson Silva recently becoming the latest fighter busted for PED use, after testing positive for banned steroid substances drostanolone and androstane, it certainly hovers a daunting question mark over the legitimacy of the sports main attractions.
Given the loose regulating bodies incorporated by Pride Fighting Championships, it's certainly possible that Mr Emelianenko could have flirted with the use of performance enhancing drugs, but to state that there was a high probability of him doing so during his decade of dominance in the sport is an unsubstantiated claim.
It will be interesting to see if Joe Rogan receives any kind of black lash for his remarks, or perhaps some support from the die hard UFC fans within the coming days.
