The Ohio Athletic Commission has decided it will be drug testing Paul and Woodley to ensure no performance-enhancing drugs are in their system on fight night.
With Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) working together to cut down on the amount of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the sport, it’s easy to forget just how patchwork and inconsistent drug testing is across the rest of combat sports. Most commissions in the United States don’t do much more than demand a fight night drug test, which is pretty easy to pass because fighters know they’re getting tested on fight night.
But originally, Ohio Athletic Commission overseeing the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley freakshow fight tonight (Sun., Aug. 29, 2021) in Cleveland wasn’t even going to bother with that. No fight night drug testing for one of the biggest boxing cards of the year (hey, hate all you want but that’s what this is).
Kinda strange, but all right.
Well, we don’t know if the reaction to that announcement led to a change or maybe Ohio got wind of all the steroid accusations floating around the Paul vs. Woodley fight. Maybe it really did just receive a few extra drug testing kits in time like its claims. Whatever the case, the commission has made some changes and now drug testing will take place.
Via ESPN’s Mike Coppinger:
Source: @jakepaul and @TWooodley will be tested for PEDs by the Ohio commission following the fight tonight. Initially, there was an issue with the number of test kits available. That’s been rectified. @MikeBohnMMA reported there wouldn’t be testing, which was correct at the time
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) August 29, 2021
Again, it’s not like these tests are very effective at catching cheaters. But, it’s nice to know that the bare minimum is being done to give the appearance that the commission cares about keeping fighters from competing on PEDs.
Even if the only night those fighters need to have PEDs out of their system is fight night …
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of tonight’s main card right here. The $59.99 Showtime/FITE PPV kicks off at 8 p.m. ET, with Paul and Woodley likely to make the walk closer to 11:30 p.m. ET. For the complete Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley fight card click here. For more news and notes on their upcoming grudge match click here.