Within the last week, Sean Sherk has resurfaced as a topic of conversation between fans, writers, and the blogosphere in general. He was required by the NSAC to submit a test before being licensed in the state of Nevada to compete in his upcoming matchup with BJ Penn. The test was only required of him due to his situation in California with the CSAC and a positive nandrolone test that popped him with a one-year suspension. After some atrocious procedures from the CSAC and an epic saga story of what potentially could have happened to taint the sample or supplement, Sherk had his suspension reduced. Sherk claims he will never fight in California again, and nothing else has ever come of the case.

There seems to be a drive for people to put themselves on one side or the other on this subject. Either Sherk knowingly used steroids to improve his skills in the cage, or he used a tainted supplement that caused the positive test. Sherk is claiming the latter point that he unknowingly took some steroids from a tainted supplement that subsequently caused a positive nandrolone test. He also claimed that it could have also been from a tainted testing machine at Quest Laboratories and used some sort of paper trail to prove that along with claiming since his Xyience supplement was tainted, many of his supplements must be tainted.

It’s a fair argument if you’re ignorant to the facts and actually think it proves without doubt that Sherk didn’t “juice”, but unfortunately for him, anybody who has followed this case can look at the facts.

1. CSAC Guidelines and the FAQ on their website actually cite the studies that warn fighters that over-the-counter supplements contain traces of steroids that could inevitably lead to a positive test. It’s up to the fighters to know what they are putting in their bodies. In my mind, this stipulation creates an open and shut case. Unless he could prove it were the testing machines, done deal right there.

With that said, that’s a pretty bad deal for Sherk. He unknowingly took steroids, but it’s proven that steroids can improve performance. After all, that’s why they have been outlawed in sports and why he was suspended. Unknowingly or not, that’s the rule as it stands right now. In that capacity, he was guilty.

2. Sherk had many of his supplements tested from reports and his own words in interviews, and a Xyience product came up positive for a steroid that was not Nandrolone. It didn’t prove his innocence, and it wasn’t the culprit of a positive, but Sherk seemed to think that it suggested many of his other supplements would also be tainted and that he should be let off the hook. Wrong… see above point.

3. Armando Garcia stated that Quest actually tests the sample four separate times. The paper trail he provided stated that during a test, the testing machine came back positive for traces of Nandrolone before his test. I find it impossible for a lab technician to keep testing someone’s sample over and over on a tainted machine, and Garcia stated that the machines are tested after every test. It just doesn’t happen

4. The samples that Sherk submitted could have been tainted by himself, his agent, or anyone else along the way to the CSAC, so they were obviously irrelevant. Garcia pointed out that the time period in which they were taken could have easily allowed Sherk to cycle. 

5. One of Sherk's defenses revolved around microbial degradation. Microbial degradation actually have been proven to cause false negatives, the exact opposite of what you want to prove in this case. Way to do your homework...

Maybe Sherk is unlucky and a tainted supplement hurt him. My suggestion would be to test those supplements and sue the supplement company. Many athletes have done this in the past, and in fact, nearly all of them win their cases by a settlement of some kind outside of court. Recoup your expenses for the commission hearings and your own testing to prove your innocence from the supplement company that screwed you.

The only unfortunate problem with this solution is that testing costs money, and you may never find a tainted supplement. Either way, let’s end the Sherk talk. He wasn’t innocent even if he didn’t “juice”. At least not innocent in the context that he wasn’t performance enhanced by a steroid during his fight. That’s why the commission explicitly states that you are responsible for what is put into your body. End of story.

SOURCES: MMA-Analyst.com Articles with research links on steroids, nandrolone, Sherk's interviews, Garcia's interview, etc.