UFC
Brian Stann tells Fox Sports that poor state of drug testing played a "major part" in his retirement from MMA
Apr 21, 2014 - 5:00:15 PM Brian Stann tells Fox Sports that poor state of drug testing played a "major part" in his retirement from MMA

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Brian Stann retired from active MMA competition last year, and shifted into a broadcasting role with Fox Sports. In an interview with FoxSports.com this weekend - one which has suspiciously been removed this afternoon - Stann said one of the key motivations behind his retirement was the lack of stringent drug testing in the sport.

"[Drug testing issues were] a major part of me walking away from the sport," Stann said in the now removed article. "Knowing that I wasn't getting a fair shake played a big part, for sure."

"When that happens in MMA, not only is he stealing from his opponent, you can be hurting them. You could be shortening their career."

Stann went further into his thoughts, placing the onus on the UFC and athletic commissions (as noted by BloodyElbow.com) to further drug testing in the sport, and added that he'll be meeting with Travis Tygart, the CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and the Nevada Athletic Commission's new executive director Robert Bennett, to further discuss the issue.

Penick's Analysis: This interview was posted on FoxSports.com on Friday, yet it wasn't until the BloodyElbow report ran this afternoon that it was removed from the site. Whatever the reason for the post's removal, the sentiment from Stann is a shared one by an increasingly larger segment of fans, pundits, and fighters. He joins Georges St-Pierre in speaking out about the issue recently, and from the position of someone employed by the UFC and Fox. His comments shouldn't be ignored, and we're seeing the start of something on this front with Lorenzo Fertitta promising further random drug testing going forward. Still, the timing of this post's removal from a UFC affiliated site is disconcerting.

UPDATE: The original interview has been put back up (LINK HERE).