Michael Schiavello Defends Alistair Overeem, Doesn't Understand PED Testing

Your quote of the day comes from Michael Schiavello, and it's a doozy.

Schiavello, better known as "The Voice," is an MMA announcer known for his over-the-top theatrics and his love for all things even remotely resembling professional wrestling. That's all well and good. Schiavello isn't my cup of tea, but I know a lot of people who really love his style.

I've had plenty of dealings with Schiavello over the years, but this latest quote is a bit silly. Schiavello appeared as a guest on this week's edition of HDNet's Inside MMA and said the following:

"

Everyone seems to be hanging Alistair out to dry. They've been nailing him to the cross and crucifying him, but it's still two months away from his fight. You know, he hasn't technically cheated. Because, unless he pisses hot on the fight night, how could he possibly have cheated? There's still an opportunity he can get from the 14:1 down to the allowed 6:1 level by fight time. But we're calling him out as a cheat, two months out from a fight?

"

Here's the thing that Schiavello either doesn't understand or is choosing to ignore: testing positive on a random test is the same thing as testing positive on fight night. There's no difference between random drug tests and the ones they give you when you step out of the cage and head into the restroom to give a urine sample.

If your T/E levels are above 6:1 on fight night, you cheated. If they are above 6:1 on a random test, no matter when it took place, you still cheated. It's the same thing.

This quote mostly made me laugh, simply because I know Schiavello is a smart man and he's competent enough to understand how this works. If this is an epic trolling job by "The Voice," then kudos, because people are falling for it hook, line and sinker.

That's the only logical explanation for someone saying that testing positive during a random urine screening doesn't actually count because it didn't happen on fight night.