The UFC announced that it will institute a pre-contract performance enhancing drug (PED) screening for fighters that will compete in the UFC (and Strikeforce). The news comes on the heels of numerous outlets including MMA Weekly reporting that Strikeforce’s King Mo Lawal tested positive for an anabolic steroid, Drostanolone.
Via UFC press release:
Continuing a commitment to the health and safety of its athletes, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® announced today that all potential UFC® and STRIKEFORCE® signees will be subject to a mandatory pre-contract screening for performance-enhancing drugs. Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, all incoming athletes will be tested prior to finalizing a contract with the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization.
UFC and STRIKEFORCE already work closely with the most prestigious regulators and athletic commissions to ensure the healthy and safety of athletes prior to competition. This includes contestants on The Ultimate Fighter®, all of whom are pre-screened for performance-enhancing drugs prior to participating on the longest-running sports reality show on television.
All current UFC and STRIKEFORCE athletes will continue to be screened for performance-enhancing drugs, both prior to competition and at random, in accordance with athletic commission rules and regulations.
“We’re committed to the health and safety of our athletes and we take it very seriously,” UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said. “We already work closely with athletic commissions to protect our athletes and now we’re taking it one step further. We’re going to test any potential UFC or STRIKEFORCE fighter before finalizing their contract. This shows that we don’t want performance-enhancing drugs in our sport.”
This pre-contract screening policy further cements the organization’s dedication to the well-being of its athletes. In May, the organization announced that nearly 350 UFC and STRIKEFORCE independent contractor athletes would be eligible for customized accident insurance coverage, an unprecedented policy that covers accidental injuries suffered by athletes while training, as well as non-training incidents such as automobile accidents.
“The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’ve seen the issues performance-enhancing drugs have caused in other sports and we’re going to do everything we can to keep them out of the UFC and STRIKEFORCE. Our athletes are already held to the highest testing standards in all sports by athletic commissions. Our new testing policy for performance-enhancing drugs only further shows how important it is to us to have our athletes competing on a level playing field.”
Payout Perspective:
The policy is a step in the right direction for the UFC and Strikeforce as it adds greater transparency and shows the public that it wants drug-free competition. However, as we see with the Lawal news, there is still the issue of existing fighters and regulating testing. Lawal has denied using Drostanolone. So, we’ll see how this is explained in the coming days. What we see here is the fact that the UFC/Strikeforce will have to take more of a proactive role if it wants to ensure that “health and safety” is a “top priority” for its athletes. Does this mean it has to work closely with athletic commissions or offer up its own random testing? We shall see, but the timing of the announcement and the Lawal news reminds us that there is still work to be done when it comes to drug regulation.
I’m sure he took some adulterated supplements, just like Cyborg. It’s a shame. The UFC is doing the right thing, but it’s only window dressing. It’s easy enough to stop using before signing the contract and most abusers will be back on the juice before the ink is dry.
Why don’t they all just get a note from their doctor like Mr. Backne himself – Chael Sonnen?
This will stop being an issue in MMA just as soon as it stops being an issue in the NFL, MLB, cycling, track and field, boxing, etc.
Not sure what the UFC is going to accomplish with this testing. I think the biggest probelm with the PED subject is the ignorance of the fans and general public. They simply have no idea about the drugs and how they work and why the current testing is a joke. As long as the public is clueless Sport Orgs and promotions can come up with useless tests and rules to make the public think the fighters are clean. Baseball showed everyone that even in a sport where PED’s are less important everyone will be using if there is nothing to prevent them from doing so. There is nothing to prevent guys from using in MMA. The tests are a joke and as long as people know they can not get caught if they do things right then everyone in the sport will use. Everyone in the sport IS using some form of PED’s. Gullible fans want to believe fighters are clean. Guys like Overeem for example and people still want to claim he is clean. The biggest and best of Baseball all used roids. But The biggest of MMA who under went a drastic change is clean?
I dont see any easy solution. IMO, i think the public wants PED’s in sports but they dont want to know about it. They want to think their athletes are cleans but see super human performances. The only way to catch fighters is to blood test them randomly multiple times per month all year even if they are not fighting. But the cost would be so high i cant see it ever being done.
Like Diego mentioned. This still allows guys to manipulate TRT, IMO anyone who needs TRT should not be licensed to fight. It doesnt matter if you have a real condition or it is effect of illegal use of Test. If you need test then imo you are not healthy enough to be fighting in MMA. Just as someone who has an arm amputated cant put on a metal arm and punch someone with it. If you need a PED for health reason you can not fight. It is a joke that guys like Duffe, Sonnen, Henderson, Marquardt have been given a PED and none of the commissions are making sure they are not abusing the drug. What is keeping them from upping the dose to get bigger faster and stronger and train harder then lower the dose and their Test level goes back to normal for the fight but keep all the benefits?
All this does is add a bullet point for Zuffa when they’re pressed about PED use in MMA; this is just one more thing they can point to and say “look, we care about the health and safety of our athletes, we even test them before they can sign a contract.” It won’t be effective, it’s just window dressing.