The Savage Truth: UFC Takes Its Medicine on PED Front
“Things are probably going to get worse before they get better.”
Those were the words of UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta at Wednesday’s press conference to address a recent slew of failed drug tests by some of the company’s biggest attractions.
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Earlier this week, I laid out a common sense multi-point plan I hoped the UFC would implement to combat the plague of PEDs that has become so pervasive in mixed martial arts. Today, they delivered on just about every point.
I am about as optimistic as I’ve ever been when it comes to the
fight against doping in our sport, but it would be foolish to
declare the battle won after this preliminary announcement. As
always, the devil will be in the details. If the UFC’s idea to work
alongside athletic commissions to implement their desired plan is
going to be productive, they will need every commission in the
states they visit to jump aboard.
Related » The Savage Truth: A Prescription for UFC’s PED Woes
Fertitta clearly stated that his goal is for athletic commissions regulating UFC events to conduct enhanced pre-fight tests for all main events and championship fights, as well as fight night tests for every single athlete on every single card the company promotes. He also stated that his company will institute an out-of-competition testing program to be administered by an independent agency that will randomly test all 585 athletes on their roster. His goal for getting all of this up and running is July 1.
One particular sticking point for the promoter could lie in relying on athletic commissions to do a lot of this work. Some state agencies have shown an unwillingness to test, citing state laws or a lack of jurisdiction. One solution would be to draw a line in the sand and not visit any state that will not get with the program to administer their enhanced and pre-fight testing regimens.
The UFC also made it clear they are willing to foot the bill for this, and it is not going to be cheap. They are committed to spending “several million dollars,” according to Fertitta, to rid the UFC of PED use. Now, if we’re being completely honest, there is no way in hell any sport will 100-percent clean. But, with this plan fully implemented, the UFC will be able to claim, with no equivocation, that they are doing everything in their power to provide as level a playing field as possible.
Both Fertitta and Dana White stated that they will advocate stiffer penalties for fighters who test positive. Their hope is that athletic commissions will adopt the World Anti-Doping Agency standard two-year ban for a first time offense. There is an ongoing debate that would raise that to a four-year ban, and the UFC brass said they would be fine with that as well because they don’t believe the current suspensions have been enough of a deterrent.
“Two to four years is career-threatening,” said White.
UFC Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein highlighted some of the issues they will need to overcome before full implementation of their desired plan. He noted that the UFC will have to figure out how to strengthen their contracts with fighters to allow these policies to take effect, since UFC fighters are independent contractors. (That is a whole different conversation.) Epstein also stated that it is his belief that getting the Nevada Athletic Commission -- the agency upon which the UFC bases its self-regulation -- to adopt the minimum 2-year ban will not be an issue.
While I do believe there is room for optimism at this point, we can’t just fold up shop and pat ourselves on the back for solving this problem. There are still quite a few hurdles to overcome before this dark chapter in our sport’s history is closed.
I truly believe that we will have to endure a lot more positive tests, scratched fights and even canceled events before a majority of fighters realize that the risk is just not worth the reward. That is all assuming this plan gets up and running and is administered in a fair and even manner.
I want to commend the UFC, but I think it would be wise to withhold any praise or criticism until we see how this process plays out over the next six to 12 months. My stance is guardedly optimistic, but I am much more confident that the sport is heading in a positive direction -- on the doping front, anyway -- than I have been at any point in my 16-plus years of covering it.
Greg Savage is the executive editor of Sherdog.com and can be reached via email or on Twitter @TheSavageTruth.
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