It’s been something of an uneven week for Bryan Caraway. First, he is awarded a retroactive Submission of the Night bonus for his win over Johnny Bedford at UFC 159 after Pat Healy’s unfortunate positive drug test for marijuana metabolites. So things are off to a good start for “Kid Lightning.” Then he had to take to the internet to, well, rub it in Healy’s face with the following statement he gave to MMA Junkie.
All I’ve got to say is that’s some expensive weed. I like Healy a lot. I came up through the fighting ranks with him. We used to train together at Team Quest. I love the guy. But I have absolutely zero remorse or guilt.
I hate weed. I cannot stand it. I’ve never tried it. I’ve never smoked a drug in my life. So I have absolutely zero tolerance for people that do it. I don’t care if it’s legal in some places or not. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. Whether it’s legal in real life or not, they tell you to follow the rules. You need to follow the rules.
However, as the old saying goes, “For every finger you point in accusation, there’s three pointing back at you.” UFC lightweight Nate Diaz complained about Healy losing the bonus, and in doing so referred to Caraway using a derogatory slur. Diaz has since been dealt with for violating the UFC’s code of conduct, but it didn’t stop there. On May 16th, Bellator flyweight Michelle Ould put out a tweet stating “Dude use to sell my ex roommate PED’s – but he hates weed -go figure.” A similar accusation was levelled the next day by an Australian fighter named CJ Kingy, who responded to one of Ould’s later tweets stating, “Caraway offered my friend PED’s in September 2008. He wont admit it…” When asked about why she posted the tweet on the May 17th edition of the Hot Cage Podcast, Ould elaborated as to why she made her statement.
“It was in response to everything I was seeing on twitter and finding out about Healy’s purse getting revoked, and that was bad enough. I felt it was really hypocritical the way that Caraway got up on his soapbox, all vehemently saying, “I hate weed!”
Michelle went on to detail that Caraway had developed a reputation in Washington State, prior to going to Team Alpha Male, for selling steroids to make ends meet. She also asserted that not only were her sources, including an ex-girlfriend of Caraway’s, still on good terms with the UFC bantamweight, and would have no reason to lie.
When approached for statement by MMAfighting.com on the matter, both Bryan Caraway and Meisha Tate denied the allegations, in a way. Caraway said, “It’s complete BS, I don’t like any drugs!” Tate’s response was, “Bryan took a fight unexpectedly on five days’ notice and passed all of his drug tests. That’s all the proof anyone should need.” While Caraway appears to be holding his line, Tate’s denial doesn’t really fit the accusations here.
Still, the negative reports continue to come out for Bryan Caraway, as Cat Zingano and her camp spoke with Bloody Elbow on Friday, May 17th in regards to an incident at the The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale weigh-ins. Zingano stated that Caraway elbowed her in the head, which was corroborated by her nutrition coach, Josh Ford, who was present at the time. Zingano noted that there were other witnesses to the incident, though none of them have issued statements at this time.
While the Nate Diaz incident was a merely an insult, it was the start of a series of major public relations nightmares that will likely haunt Caraway for a long time to come. While the allegations of dealing steroids, if proven, are in the past, the incident with Cat Zingano should be investigated by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It’s bad enough when a man hits a woman, but for a male fighter to do so to a female fighter outside of a sparring context makes it even worse. If the investigation shows that Caraway did indeed intentionally elbow the TUF 18 coach, then he should be both fined and cut for his egregious violation of the UFC’s code of conduct.
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