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Game Changer: UFC To Implement Year-Round, Out-of-Competition Drug Testing, Advocate for Longer Suspensions

Unlike the NSAC meeting that preceded it, yesterday’s UFC press conference actually managed to make some huge waves in the MMAsphere.

It got off to a rough start, though, with Dana White addressing Anderson Silva and Hector Lombard‘s drug test failures in a tone that could only be described as “fucking hostile.” Most notably, he pointed out that the UFC had not yet received Lombard’s test results when they booked him against Rory MacDonald, which the most basic research will point out was a bold-faced lie. Second, he denied ever claiming to have scraped the promotion’s out-of-competition drug-testing program, which again, false.

Thankfully, White handed the reins over to the cool and collected Lorenzo Fertitta after announcing that Macdonald would instead face Robbie Lawler for the welterweight title on July 11th (the timing of which seemed…odd). From there, Fertitta dropped a bombshell of an announcement in regards to the future of drug testing in the UFC. Join us after the jump for all the details.

Unlike the NSAC meeting that preceded it, yesterday’s UFC press conference actually managed to make some huge waves in the MMAsphere.

Starting on July 1st, the UFC will begin administering random, year-round and out-of-competition drug tests to *all* of its 585 fighter roster. The UFC will also administer mandatory, enhanced out-of-competition drug testing to main event and championship fighters on all cards starting in July as well.

“You will be tested in competition, you will be tested out of competition, and if you are using, you will be caught,” said Fertitta.

“We’ve been working on this a couple years; we’ve been in conversations with third parties for six or seven months,” Fertitta said. “What the Anderson Silva thing prompted us to address the issues and speed up the process. We don’t have the luxury of debating all these points. We’ve got to just go. The results are going to be what the results are going to be.”

When addressing how they thought this would impact the current roster, Fertitta was surprisingly candid, stating, “Honestly, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

In addition to announcing the year-round drug testing policy, Fertitta also stated that, while still following the lead of the athletic commissions in place, the UFC would be advocating for stronger punishments for athletes caught using banned substances moving forward. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), for instance, has been discussing changing the bans for first time offenders from two years to four (!), which the UFC is prepared to back in either case.

“We certainly advocate for (a two-year ban).” said Fertitta “We are committed to it in every way that you possibly could be. There should be no mistake there. This is a call-out to all of the athletes on our roster: You’ll be tested in competition, you’ll be tested out of competition, and if you’re using, you will be caught, and there will be significant penalties that go along with that.”

“If we lose main events, we lose main events. (Matchmakers) Joe Silva and Sean Shelby are going to have to get just a little more creative.”

The obvious exclusion to this policy would be overseas events, which are largely self-regulated and would therefore fall on the UFC in regards to specific penalties. Should longer suspensions be put into place and a champion be caught using, Fertitta also claimed that said champion would be stripped of their title.

Wow. The UFC is making moves, it seems, and its about damn time. Of course, these new policies open the floodgates for a lot of questions, like whether or not the UFC will choose to add on to commission-handed punishments should said commissions decide not increase the length of suspensions. Steven Marrocco has laid out a few more questions regarding the UFC’s new policy over at MMAJunkie, and we’d highly recommend that you check it out.

So yeah, there’s a lot of outliers right now, but let’s all keep our fingers crossed and pray that this doesn’t turn into a complete shitshow.

You can listen to the full audio of yesterdays press conference below, via Submission Radio.

UFC Announces Drastic New Drug-Testing Program, Goes into Effect July 1

LAS VEGAS—The Ultimate Fighting Championship today announced plans for sweeping changes to its overall drug-testing program that could change the face of mixed martial arts as we know it, including punishments that could potentially be far more s…

UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, president Dana White and counsel Lawrence Epstein took the stage in a ballroom at the Red Rock Casino resort to announce the changes, which were spurred on by a recent spate of high-profile test failures, including Anderson Silva, Nick Diaz and Hector Lombard.

Fertitta opened the news conference by detailing the UFC’s history with regulation and drug testing, noting that they have always run toward more government regulation and not away from it. White then went into specifics about recent test failures, including Jon Jones’ failed out-of-competition test for cocaine metabolites and Silva’s multiple test failures for performance-enhancing drugs and benzodiazepines.

After laying out recent history, Fertitta then began discussing the UFC’s vision for the future of drug testing. That vision was brought about when looking at the statistics for out-of-competition tests. In 2013 and 2014, out of 19 fighters tested on an out-of-competition basis, five failed.

“That is an alarming statistic,” Fertitta said. And because of that statistic, Fertitta continued, the UFC would be running toward eliminating PEDs from the sport just as they ran toward regulation over a decade ago.

He noted that the UFC will advocate for all athletic commissions to conduct enhanced out-of-competition testing for all main event fighters, including both championship and non-title fights. The UFC will pay for all additional costs accrued for these additional testing procedures, which would include blood testing and carbon isotope ratio testing on samples that show abnormal levels of testosterone.

In addition, Fertitta said, the UFC will begin testing every fighter on its roster randomly and out of competition. And the punishments for offenders will be far harsher than the ones that currently exist. Fertitta said they have come to realize that the current punishments handed out by athletic commissions are not enough of a deterrent to cause drug abusers to stop, and so he is supporting even longer punishments for first-time offenders.

Fertitta said that he would even support a four-year banishment for first-time offenders in accordance with current World Anti-Doping Agency code. The current WADA code changed from a two-year ban for first-time offenders to four years on January 1, 2015.

The UFC’s drug-testing program will be handled by an outside source.

“We will partner with an international, leading anti-doping agency,” Fertitta said. “That agency will handle all of the testing. They won’t even tell us who they’re testing or why. They will handle it.”

Fertitta and Epstein declined to announce who their agency partner will be. Leading candidates would include USADA and the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency. The promotion is still in discussions with various agencies about assuming those duties.

The UFC’s new drug-testing policy will go into effect on July 1, 2015.

Jeremy Botter covers mixed martial arts for Bleacher Report

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Live Stream: Catch the UFCs Drug-Testing Press Conference Right Here at 1 PM EST

(Just a couple-a wild and craaazy guys.)

The UFC is facing a bit of a crisis, Nation. Just a handful of events into 2015, the promotion has already seen several of its top fighters get popped for various banned substances, leading many to believe that #TheTimeIsMostDefinitelyNotNow to be an MMA fan. The UFC needs to nip their drug problem in the bud, which is why Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta will be holding a press conference to address the future of the promotion’s drug-testing practices starting at 1 EST.

Thankfully, this conference will be streamed live via the UFC’s website and not Fight Pass, so join us after the jump to catch the proceedings as they occur from inside the Red Rock Casino Resort Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada.

(Just a couple-a wild and craaazy guys.)

Dana White: Anderson Silva’s Failed Test Screwed Me Up for a Few Days

It’s fair to say Anderson Silva’s failed test prior to UFC 183 messed with all of our heads a bit.
UFC President Dana White is no exception to the rule.
“It screwed me up for a few days,” White told MMAjunkie after Saturday’s UFC Fight Night…

It’s fair to say Anderson Silva‘s failed test prior to UFC 183 messed with all of our heads a bit.

UFC President Dana White is no exception to the rule.

“It screwed me up for a few days,” White told MMAjunkie after Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 60 event in Broomfield, Colorado. “I was messed up for a few days after that. I’ve been a huge Anderson Silva fan, too. But we’ll talk about that on Wednesday.”

“Wednesday” is in reference to the UFC’s planned press conference where White and UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta are scheduled to not only touch upon Silva’s positive steroid test, but all the other recent positive tests as well.

But before the UFC can take center stage at its media conference in Las Vegas, all eyes will be on the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday, Feb. 17, when the commission will likely hand out suspensions for all fighters who’ve recently tested positive. Included in the 42 different topics outlined in Tuesday’s agenda (via MMAjunkie) are requests for temporary suspensions for Silva, Nick Diaz and Hector Lombard as well as a disciplinary hearing for Ashlee Evans-Smith.

Though it hasn’t been set in stone just yet, it’s safe to assume Tuesday’s hearings won’t induce any smiles from any of the fighters who’ve tested positive. White went as far as to say he expects “Lots of bad s–t” on Tuesday.

“We’re not going to be talking about fun things,” White told MMAjunkie. “We’ll address all the things that have happened lately, and what we’re going to do, and what’s going to happen from here on out.”

The UFC’s already had to remove Silva from The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4, per the NSAC‘s request.

Be sure to keep up with Bleacher Report for any and all of the breaking news that’s set to come out of both the Tuesday NSAC hearing and Wednesday UFC press conference.

Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report MMA. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec, and a programming intern at Fox Sports San Diego. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.

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UFC’s February 18 Press Conference a Promising Start Toward Drug Changes

Over the past seven days, I have gone in hard on the UFC and its drug testing issues. I’ve said I believe they have a problem with performance enhancing drugs. I expressed my disappointment in their decision to cancel a planned comprehensive testing pr…

And I spoke of my belief that, if things did not change, it could lead the UFC and mixed martial arts in the wrong direction.

Today, we got our first glimpse that change might be on the horizon and that the UFC understands that changes must be made.

During Wednesday’s broadcast of UFC Tonight, the hosts—Karyn Bryant, Daniel Cormier, Michael Bisping and guest Demetrious Johnson—discussed the issues surrounding PEDs in the UFC. The program noted that 13 UFC fighters have failed drug tests in the last 12 months. It was a moment of brutal honesty from a UFC-controlled show that could have easily avoided the subject altogether.

But the big news, announced by Bryant during the broadcast, is that UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and president Dana White will hold a special press conference on February 18 to address the drug issues in the UFC. According to Bryant, they’ll also discuss their plans for combating the problem.

The news conference will come one day after the Nevada Athletic Commission, which announced (h/t MMA Junkie) its agenda Wednesday, meets to discuss the recent drug failures of Anderson Silva, Hector Lombard and Nick Diaz.

This is good news. My hope is that White and Fertitta will announce they are bringing back the canceled drug testing program. Today, I’ll give you a few things that I’d like to see in an out-of-competition testing program.

I’m not telling you this will clean up mixed martial arts or make it a 100 percent clean sport, because that is not the case. In any athletic competition where money is on the line, cheaters will try to cheat. That’s a fact of life.

But I do believe these steps will help lead to a drastic overhaul of the PED culture in mixed martial arts.

1. RANDOM YEAR-ROUND TESTING OF EVERY FIGHTER ON THE ROSTER

A comprehensive policy that tests fighters on a truly random basis will go a long way toward curbing the usage of performance enhancing drugs.

If every fighter on the UFC roster understands that a tester can show up at any time, day or night, they’ll be a lot less likely to use PEDs. And the testing must be truly random; fighters cannot know when they might be tested. And I would test each fighter three times per year.

This would also drastically diminish the usage of recreational drugs by UFC athletes.

2. HARSH PENALTIES FOR OFFENDERS

Random testing is a great start, but it is nearly useless if fighters are not terrified of the punishment they’ll face if they are caught using. Stiff penalties for those who fail drug tests—even if it is their first offense—is nearly as important as random testing.

For the first offense, I would like to see fighters suspended for a year. This is very near to the current standard, though, some fighters receive lesser terms. I would like to see a one-year suspension become the standard punishment.

For the second offense, a two-year suspension is in order. If I knew that testing positive would cause me to lose my ability to make money in my chosen profession, I would think long and hard about injecting anything into my body.

For the rare third offense, I would recommend a lifetime ban. This may sound harsh, but any fighter who has failed three drug tests simply does not deserve to compete in mixed martial arts.

3. PARTNER WITH OUTSIDE PROGRAM SUCH AS WADA

The UFC does not have the infrastructure to deal with a comprehensive drug testing program that would test 500-plus fighters three times a year. And more importantly, drug testing must be handled by an outside party in order to be viewed as legitimate. Onlookers will view any UFC-run program with skepticism.

That’s why the promotion should partner with the World Anti-Doping Agency or another such organization. WADA is capable of handling the volume required, and it’s an outside agency. With WADA in control of the program, we can be sure that the UFC is not exerting influence on the results.

4. ACCOUNTABILITY WITHOUT A UFC FILTER

And that leads me into my final point: The UFC cannot have any control on the results of the testing. The results must be sent directly to the media and other interested parties; they cannot be filtered through the UFC. The promotion simply cannot have the option of keeping results secret until it sees fit to release them.

My suggestions are simple, but I do believe they would be effective. Obviously, any program instituted by the UFC will be far more complex and in-depth than the items I’ve listed here. And we aren’t even certain that Fertitta and White will use the February 18 press conference to announce a drug testing program.

But it does appear, at least on the surface, that the UFC realizes it has a problem and that it is going to take the steps needed to fix it. Which means February 18 is a very important date in the history of the UFC, and the results of that day could be far more important to the long-term health of the sport than any fight card the UFC has ever promoted.

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UFC, MMA Needs More Vocal Anti-PED Fighters Like Tim Kennedy

If more fighters took the same kind of public stance on performance-enhancing drugs as UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy, the sport of mixed martial arts might be better off.
Not everybody can be Kennedy, of course. He is nearly one of a kind: a cerebral an…

If more fighters took the same kind of public stance on performance-enhancing drugs as UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy, the sport of mixed martial arts might be better off.

Not everybody can be Kennedy, of course. He is nearly one of a kind: a cerebral and talented fighter who is willing to speak his mind. He is a special forces operator who still, 12 years after beginning his professional mixed martial arts career, still does sporadic “work” for the United States government. What kind of work, Kennedy won’t say. But it is safe to assume that, given his background as an elite sniper, Kennedy isn’t building roads in foreign countries.

But more importantly to our interests, Kennedy is unafraid and unapologetic when it comes to the subject of PEDs. He believes mixed martial arts is a dirty and broken sport, and he is so disillusioned with the way things are going that he’s not sure he’ll ever fight again. He is not retired, he told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour (h/t MMA Fighting). But he also is not in a hurry to get back in the Octagon.

I have a conflict. My love for the sport isn’t going away. I’m just disappointed in the sport. I don’t know how to explain these mixed emotions where I’m like: every dude in my weight class is testing positive, everybody is cheating, judging still sucks, reffing still sucks.

Kennedy isn’t scared of pointing a little blame at Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White, either. He told Helwani that he sees what he believes is “lip service” from White and Fertitta every time somebody fails a drug test. Changes are promised, Kennedy said, “and then nothing changes.”

Kennedy has been out of action since a controversial loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 178. Kennedy nearly beat Romero in the second round and, in fact, believed he’d won the fight when Romero took too long getting off his stool for the start of the third round. But Romero was given extra time and Kennedy, flustered by the proceedings, started the third round flat. Romero took advantage and finished Kennedy with strikes.

Kennedy also told Helwani that he needs his brain. “This sport does not compensate enough for me to be damaged for the rest of my life, not to be able to have a real career the last 40 years of my life,” he said.

Many kudos should be given to Kennedy, for both speaking his mind and for standing up for something he feels passionately about. He has long been a vocal opponent of performance-enhancing drugs; now, he’s taking the next step by remaining on the sidelines due to his disappointment with the way things are heading.

The problem is that Kennedy, for the most part, is a man alone on an island. The majority of fighters don’t speak up about the negative effects of PEDs in mixed martial arts. The ones that do are rarely willing to rock the boat outside of a stray comment here and there. And almost none of them are willing to say they’ve had enough and are no longer interested in participating in a dirty sport.

And until there are more fighters like Kennedy who are willing to speak their mind and take action with their own careers, there will be no meaningful changes. Georges St-Pierre, the legendary former welterweight champion, has been a vocal proponent of the need for a drastic overhaul to the drug culture in mixed martial arts, per ESPN.com.

But like Kennedy, St-Pierre can’t go at it alone. A real effort to clean up the sport would require vocal criticism from many of the UFC’s top stars. Until the promotion feels backed into a corner, it won’t change a thing. The recent decision to cancel plans for a comprehensive random drug testing program that would test the entire roster multiple times per year is a perfect example.

That program represented a real glimmer of hope on the horizon and a chance to turn things around. Now, it has been tossed on the scrap heap. Some athletic commissions will continue to randomly test main event fighters. But they’ll never be able to afford a program that tests every fighter on the UFC roster, and PEDs will continue to run rampant.

It seems Kennedy senses what kind of future could be in store for mixed martial arts if drastic measures aren’t taken to curtail the use of PEDs. It is a bleak vision. The public at large will never accept a sport considered to be dirty. Not on a long-term basis, anyway. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: mixed martial arts already has plenty going against it. The violence of the thing is enough to deter a lot of people from watching. If the general public believes all fighters are juiced up cheaters, well, things get even worse.

Again, kudos to Kennedy for speaking up. But in order for real change to occur, he cannot be alone. Others must join him, not necessarily in abstaining from competing but in continually pressing for a total cleansing of the sport.

Until Kennedy’s one-man band becomes a crowd, things will remain just as they are.

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