Arnold Allen recalls being warned off steroids by strongman father as a child
Arnold Allen used his recent post-fight interview at UFC Liverpool to poke some fun at his father — and he doesn’t regret it one bit.
Although some people took exception to his comments about his former strongman father “injecting since I was a baby,” Allen insisted that his father’s history with PEDs has always been a source of humor within the family’s household.
Despite some negative reactions, “Almighty” didn’t lament having a laugh at his father’s expense following his spectacular comeback submission victory over Mads Burnell.
“No, I don’t regret it,” Allen said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour.
“It’s a joke me and my Dad have had always. When we were growing up, since the early 2000s, he was taking a lot of steroids when he was doing the strongman events — it was just the culture they were all involved in — they were all taking steroids.”
Allen remembers witnessing his father taking steroids as a child, but also recalled his father warning him away from the substances.
“I’d walk into his room and he was injecting,” Allen said. “He was always very open about it. He was always very against me and my brother using anything. He’d always be like, ‘Look, I don’t want you guys doing that sh*t, it will ruin your life and you’ll depend on it.’
“He always told us that, not like we ever wanted to try it, but we’ve always made jokes about it with him. We’d make jokes about him being angry because he was on steroids, like ‘the angry dinners’ because of the steroids…it’s just a joke between me and my Dad.
“I know some people don’t get the joke, especially American guys watching us English guys making jokes, it’s different. I think everyone that’s English gets it.”
Even though he witnessed his father taking steroids in his childhood, Arnold is adamant that he never wanted to try it himself.
“No, I’d just think, ‘That’s f*cked up,’” he said. “I’d just think it was messed up, I’d be like, ‘What are you doing, man?’”
Even Allen’s brother, who competes in strongman events, hasn’t followed in his father’s footsteps when it comes to PEDs.
“He does do strongman, but I’ll be honest with you, he’s terrified of needles. I think they’ve tried to give him stuff, but they can’t because he’s too scared,” Allen quipped.
Allen said that USADA have no contacted him since he made the comments, but he hopes they do so he can be tested on home soil for the first time.
“They haven’t come knocking yet, but I hope they do. I’ve never been tested in England. I’ve never been tested back home. Bring them, the more the merrier!”