Paul Taylor to fight Matt Brown at UFC 95?

Eddie Goldman speaks with Dr. Margaret Goodman about the cancellation of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.- Manny Pacquiao fight after the two camps failed to agree on how to conduct the prefight drug testing, and what should be the future of drug testing for the combat sports. Dr. Goodman is a neurologist and the former chair of the Medical Advisory Board of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Among the many topics we discussed was why the last-minute compromise offered by the Mayweather camp, for an end to blood testing 14 days before the fight, would have been inadequate in preventing dope cheating. We discussed various methods widely used by dope cheats, including the use of EPO, and how many athletes beat even the current random tests. We stressed the need for regulatory and sanctioning bodies in the combat sports to update their antiquated procedures if they are serious about dealing with this issue. We also discussed the use of performance enhancing drugs in other sports such as baseball.

We discussed how the collapse of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is yet another milestone in the collapse of boxing, and how other sports like mixed martial arts are benefiting from it. But we also discussed how the issue of doping in mixed martial arts is not being properly addressed and must be, lest that sport sooner or later suffers a similar fate as boxing. And, of course, we skewered most (but not all) of the combat sports media, which still refuse to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth on these issues.

We closed with some suggestions for those who are honest and serious about  cleaning up these sports to work together to intensify the education of the public on these issues, and to influence policy-making regarding drug testing.

Will all these anti-doping efforts eventually succeed? A lot depends on how the public and the fans react, and this discussion helps outline a course of action for those who truly want clean sport.

Man with genitals in pipe

A man who went to casualty with his penis stuck in a steel pipe had to be cut free by firefighters using a metal grinder.
Medics at Southampton General Hospital could not get the man's penis out of the stainless steel pipe because the restricted blood flow had caused it to become aroused, so they called in Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
They turned up with a special equipment unit from St Mary's station in Southampton and seven firefighters to help in what a spokesman said was a "delicate operation". The firefighters used the four-and-a-half-inch grinder to cut the pipe from around the man's penis and it took about 30 minutes. The patient was given an anaesthetic and his penis was left bruised and swollen but otherwise unharmed. The anxious man, aged about 40, gave hospital staff no explanation about how the pipe got stuck after he turned up on Tuesday morning. A Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "Initially the crew did not have the appropriate cutting equipment to free the man. "It was a very delicate operation that required a very steady hand and the crew was worried about things getting too hot during the cutting. "It's certainly an unusual call-out and I'm sure the man won't be getting into that situation again."