Dana White recently said in an interview that almost all his fighters would fail drug test for marijuana if tested randomly. Which got me thinking. Do that many MMA fighters puff the magic dragon? An do they think it is an advantage or disadvantage? So I had to do a little research, and no I’m not a pot smoking hippie although my appearance may deceive you. I’m a grown man, who still goes to college, and lives rent free. My personal opinion, do what you want. I’ve experimented enough with old “mary” back in my day to know what’s up. Hell, for ten years I spent my days and nights doing bong rips and playing Xbox, also around the same time I got up to 215lbs and always took an elevator even to the second floor. What do I know though? I’m a writer not a fighter.
So I asked my MMA friends what their thoughts on puffing the “cheeba” while training was; and I have to tell you, they didn’t seem to really care. Some of them have never even tried it before (cough narc), and one said they always smoke and fight. Not all of them but some admitted to partaking in some recreational usage, but agreed it should be cut out while training and fighting. One thing I noticed was they all agreed that they didn’t believe smoking “grass” will give you an advantage in training or fighting. One brought up the issue of a smoker’s cardio becoming a factor, but only if they’re doing it all day everyday. Rumor is a some of the jiu jitsu practitioners use it before tournaments to help them stay calm. A few agreed they would be angry with themselves if they lost to a fighter that later tested positive for the “devil’s lettuce”.
So does it really matter? I’ve sparred and rolled plenty of times sober but can honestly say I’ve never done it stoned. So tonight I decided to do a little personal investigation into the subject. I called a friend that knew a friend who’s sister’s boyfriend’s roommate could help me out, and I went to work. For the sake of the interview of course. After hitting the heavy bag in the only basement in Bryan, TX area I know of, with a joint of what the guy called “OG Blue Crush Indica”, no idea what that means. I started off well just had no place to ash the “doobie”, then after about 5 minutes I started thinking about my Spanish homework and doing my income tax. I then insisted my friend just take still shots of me because I couldn’t feel my legs. After spending 20 minutes talking with my friend Jeff about whether or not aliens are responsible for natural disasters, I got back on the bag. Did about six solid punches before taking my gloves and hand-wraps off and drinking two cans of RC Cola. After about a 20 minute break I got back on there, only problems was I had my Pink Floyd channel on Pandora so I was in a different place mentally, but was still punching. After listening to “Great Gig In The Sky” though, I found myself hugging and dancing with the heavy bag. I then had one more RC Cola with three-day old cold pizza and a big bag of gummy bears I found in the couch. That’s my personal experience judge for yourself. Contact me on Twitter @MarkilloTX to let me know your thoughts.
* The “marijuana” used was fake and used for comedic purposes only. No laws were broken during the writing or photography of this article. My “actions” while “high” were for comedic purposes only.
Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkilloTX
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