Dana White should come down harshly on UFC fighters who fail drug tests

UFC President Dana White should act decisively in the wake of Chael Sonnen's positive drug test, or risk losing the gains achieved by mixed martial arts.

What’s most troubling about Chael Sonnen testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs after nearly beating middleweight champion Anderson Silva isn’t that he admitted dosing himself with the excess levels of testosterone found in his system.

Neither is it the sheer gall of today’s announcement that he would appeal a one-year ban and $2,500 fine by the California State Athletic Association, the regulating agency for that particular fight, which was held in Oakland last August. Nevada and other states that are members of the Association of Boxing Commissions would honor the ban as well, which essentially means no fighting for Sonnen if the appeal is denied.

No, what’s really troubling is a comment attributed to UFC President Dana White.

Now I don’t KNOW Dana White, and I didn’t hear him utter these words exactly, but what he told Yahoo Sports.com’s Kevin Iole rings true for everything I DO know about the guy, and everything I’ve heard him say in the past:

“When (a UFC fighter) fails a test, the government is going to fine them and suspend them and tell them they can’t make a living for a year. So should I come in after they’ve already lost the ability to make a living for a year and been fined all this money and, in the worst economic disaster in the history of the world, fine them another huge amount and take away their ability to make a living even longer?”

YES, you should.

Look, mixed martial arts is fighting an uphill battle right now. Boxers and their fans turn a deaf cauliflower ear to those of us trying to convince the world this is a real sport, not just a steel-cage street fight.

Who is respected in baseball: Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds? Or Mickey Mantle, Albert Pujols, Bob Feller and Joe DiMaggio?

Do you think Muhammad Ali or Joe Frazier would’ve slipped a horseshoe into his gloves?

Look what has happened in the NFL, the league whose popularity UFC is trying to attain. Commissioner Roger Goodell has turned into a sports world Billy Jack, breaking headlights and heads whenever wrongdoers get caught (Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Vick .¤.¤. and Braylon Edwards?).

Baseball’s Bob Watson, who’s in charge of discipline for do-nothing Commissioner Bud Selig, doesn’t care if Petey Pitcher loses money or even his career if that’s what happens; it was Petey’s decision to violate a known rule.

Goodell wants his league to make money, obviously; but like Watson and Selig, he’s realized that athletes must be held to a higher standard. Baseball and football realize that making a living in those sports is a privilege for those who have those gifts. A privilege, not a right.

Chael Sonnen, like anyone who cheats, needs to understand that the same standard applies to mixed martial arts. It MUST if the sport is to be accepted. And as the head of UFC, and undoubtedly the man who has brought it this far, White can’t sit on the sidelines and boo-hoo for the lost bucks of his fighters. Hey, you want ’em to make more money, PAY ‘em more money. They’re all under contract to you, and as you pointed out, they don’t make nearly what athletes in other sports do.

White has to be proactive. Don’t fine ’em. BAN ’em.

Yeah, Sonnen was a character. I understand the pay-per-view sales for his fight with Silva topped 600,000, and the average pay-per-views are usually half that or less. The rematch with Silva was supposed to happen during the Super Bowl week, when folks are already a little sports-nutso, and thus potential for PPV sales was and is incredible. It’s unlikely that the California State Athletic Commission will side with Sonnen on his appeal, and the ban and fine will stand. The UFC is out that cash anyway.

So that really leaves just one question for White:

How much does an ounce of integrity go for these days?

Coming up: UFC 119 is at 10 p.m. Saturday [cya: sept. 25: ]at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Heavyweights Frank Mir (13-5-0) vs. Mirko Cro Cop (27-7-2, and 1 NC) and light heavyweights Antonio Rogerio Noguiera (19-3-0) vs. Ryan Bader (12-0-0) are main event and co-main event, respectively.

It’s available on pay-per-view with a suggested price of $44.99; contact your local provider. Also, several local bars are showing the fight. See ufc.com for one near you.