Tag: drug testing

Everything You Need to Know About the UFC’s New Drug-Testing Policy


(“Okay Georges, we’ve done everything you’ve asked, now will you please come back? I can only book Lawler vs. Hendricks about 7 more times before people will start to grow restless.” Photo via Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

As part of their on-again–off-again–back-on again relationship with year-round, out-of-competition drug testing, the UFC held a press conference yesterday to announce several major changes to their program, as well as further detail the specific punishments and guidelines of this game-changing policy.

The complete rundown is after the jump.

The post Everything You Need to Know About the UFC’s New Drug-Testing Policy appeared first on Cagepotato.


(“Okay Georges, we’ve done everything you’ve asked, now will you please come back? I can only book Lawler vs. Hendricks about 7 more times before people will start to grow restless.” Photo via Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

As part of their on-again–off-again–back-on again relationship with year-round, out-of-competition drug testing, the UFC held a press conference yesterday to announce several major changes to their program, as well as further detail the specific punishments and guidelines of this game-changing policy.

The complete rundown is after the jump.

Firstly (and perhaps most importantly) was the UFC’s announcement that it will be partnering with the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to both implement and monitor its policies moving forward. As a result of this collaboration, all UFC fighters will be required to alert USADA of their whereabouts at all times, failure of which to do so (or skipping a drug test entirely) constitutes a strike against a fighter, with 3 strikes in a year is the equivalent of a failed drug test. USADA will additionally be granted full control over drug testing procedure, with no input from the UFC.

“If a commission-issued punishment is deemed less harsh than the UFC’s, the UFC-issued punishment will still be implemented as a deterrent.”

Secondly, all UFC athletes will be tested ”Unannouced, year-round, in and out of competition testing. Urine and blood testing, any place, any where” on an average of 5.5 times a year. As for the specific punishments, well, BloodyElbow has put together a nice little breakdown:

Punishments for non-specified substances (steroids, HGH, blood doping drugs, etc.)

-To be tested in and out of competition year-round.
1st offense: 2 years (with possibility of 4 years for “aggravating circumstances”)
2nd offense: Double the sanction for the 1st offense
3rd offense: Double the sanction for the 2nd offense

Punishments for specified substances (marijuana, cocaine, other stimulants, etc.)

-To be tested for in-competition only. In competition is defined as 6 hours before the weigh-ins and 6 hours after a fight.
1st offense: 1 year (with possibility of 2 additional years for “aggravating circumstances”)
2nd offense: Double the sanction for the 1st offense
3rd offense: Double the sanction for the 2nd offense

Most notable from this list, other than the possibility of seeing a fighter banned for 4 years for a steroid infraction, is the organization’s newly-defined period that constitutes “in competition” regarding recreational drugs like marijuana – 6 hours before the weigh-ins and 6 hours after a fight.

A few other bullet points:

-Any fighter caught with either steroids or recreational drugs in their system are subject to forfeiture of their UFC ranking, belt, and purse or other compensation due to a failed test.

-Results for fighters will also be overturned to DQ losses.

-Any purse, compensation or fine will be put toward the cost of the UFC’s anti-doping program and/or anti-doping research.

-A minimum of 2750 tests per year spread across the entire UFC roster (hence the 5.5 tests/fighter average), which will be administered without advance notice. Testing can include EPO, HGH, blood, urine, and CIR.

-Past failures prior to the new policy will be taken into consideration (under “aggravating circumstances”) when assessing punishments for repeat offenders.

-All fighter tests and locations — that is, location of the tests taken — will be available on the USADA website, searchable by fighter.

And finally, a “whistleblower” line will be made available to fighters to alert USADA to any suspicious activity, be it in their own camps or otherwise.

As we said when the UFC first announced these changes, this is a huge, positive step forward for the legitimacy of our oft-anything but sport. It’s still remains to be seen just how effectively the UFC/USADA will carry this out when the policy rolls out on July 1st. We will have more on this story as it develops.

The post Everything You Need to Know About the UFC’s New Drug-Testing Policy appeared first on Cagepotato.

Hi-larious Quote of the Day: Vitor Belfort Thinks It’s “Unfair” That He’s Being Drug-Tested So Much


(“Hey bro, the supplement ladder is too high.” via Belfort’s instagram.)

Vitor Belfort is getting frustrated, y’all, and it’s easy to see why. “The Phenom’s” middleweight title shot against Chris Weidman has been delayed a half dozen times already, and was most recently pushed back to May after the champ once again went down with an injury. With each delay, the 37-year old finds himself drawing closer and closer to TRT-withdrawal-induced mortality, and to top it all off, he’s being unfairly drug-tested up the whazoo.

What’s that, you’ve taken some issue with our use of the term “unfairly”? Well take it up with Belfort, who despite passing his most recent random test, is still inexplicably being tested at every turn leading up to his UFC 187 title fight with Weidman. As he told the Brazilian media (as translated by MMAFighting):

In 2013, I was the only one (tested randomly). I was tested seven times for my fight with Weidman. Seven times. Did they test my opponent seven times?


(“Hey bro, the supplement ladder is too high.” via Belfort’s instagram.)

Vitor Belfort is getting frustrated, y’all, and it’s easy to see why. “The Phenom’s” middleweight title shot against Chris Weidman has been delayed a half dozen times already, and was most recently pushed back to May after the champ once again went down with an injury. With each delay, the 37-year old finds himself drawing closer and closer to TRT-withdrawal-induced mortality, and to top it all off, he’s being unfairly drug-tested up the whazoo.

What’s that, you’ve taken some issue with our use of the term “unfairly”? Well take it up with Belfort, who despite passing his most recent random test, is still inexplicably being tested at every turn leading up to his UFC 187 title fight with Weidman. As he told the Brazilian media (as translated by MMAFighting):

In 2013, I was the only one (tested randomly). I was tested seven times for my fight with Weidman. Seven times. Did they test my opponent seven times?

The funny thing is that everybody is clean, nobody do anything wrong. But when they started testing everybody, how many got caught? Forty percent? That shows that for the system to work, everybody has to be tested equally. If they come test me for my fight with Weidman, they have to go test Weidman as well on the same date, same time. That’s an equal system. It has to be fair. It’s not fair that they test me seven times and only test him once. 

Now, one one hand, Belfort is 100% correct here. Anderson Silva’s positive test has more or less shown us that *every* fighter on the UFC’s roster needs to be tested on a near-constant basis if the promotion ever hopes to clean up its PED epidemic. Random testing should be equal across the board regardless of a certain fighter’s past, especially in the case of a title fight. And to be fair to him, The Nevada State Athletic Commission hasn’t exactly been consistent in making good on their promise to test him “until the day he retires” until recently.

On the other hand, Belfort’s refusal to acknowledge that his own choices in the past *might* be playing a role in all this is just…classic him. Here’s a guy who has not only been busted for PEDs before, but has violated the limits of the sport’s TRT policies back when that sh*t was legal. Weidman, on the other hand, has never tested positive for anything other than excess gabagool in his lifetime. Should both fighters be tested on an equal basis in the months leading up to their fight? Sure. But to act as if the scales are being inexplicably and unfairly weighed against Belfort is an even more laughable statement.

All that being said, can you imagine how pissed Belfort will be when Weidman blows out his knee in April?

NSAC to Begin Implementing Intensive Drug-Testing Procedures…on NSAC

(We hear that if you play that song backwards on loop, it lines up perfectly with the Wizard of Oz, maaaaaaan.)

Disclaimer: Guys, I am really digging the articles you’ve been sending in, but especially these Onion-style pieces ala “Ultimate Roided Fucking Killers League.” Here is another such article that’s just as hilarious. — Jared

By CP Reader Scott Johnson

Off the heels of the major announcement made by the UFC last Wednesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has decided to follow suit with a groundbreaking decision of their own. Beginning June 30th, NSAC will begin implementing a new drug testing policy upon itself in the hopes that it will curb the erratic, irrational behavior that has long plagued its decision making process. (See: everything from the past month)

The new policy will see representatives of the NSAC, which includes referees, judges and commission members, be subject to year round random drug tests as well as mandatory testing prior to any events or hearings. These new changes are expected to help to eradicate the poor decisions that have adversely affected all aspects of MMA.

“After reviewing the hearing that took place on February 17th of 2015, it was clear that changes needed to be made to ensure that the integrity and good name of the Nevada State Athletic Commission would remain intact,” said Francisco Aguilar without a hint of irony or self-awareness in his voice.


(We hear that if you play that song backwards on loop, it lines up perfectly with the Wizard of Oz, maaaaaaan.)

Disclaimer: Guys, I am really digging the articles you’ve been sending in, but especially these Onion-style pieces ala “Ultimate Roided Fucking Killers League.” Here is another such article that’s just as hilarious. — Jared

By CP Reader Scott Johnson

Off the heels of the major announcement made by the UFC last Wednesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has decided to follow suit with a groundbreaking decision of their own. Beginning June 30th, NSAC will begin implementing a new drug testing policy upon itself in the hopes that it will curb the erratic, irrational behavior that has long plagued its decision making process. (See: everything from the past month)

The new policy will see representatives of the NSAC, which includes referees, judges and commission members, be subject to year round random drug tests as well as mandatory testing prior to any events or hearings. These new changes are expected to help to eradicate the poor decisions that have adversely affected all aspects of MMA.

“After reviewing the hearing that took place on February 17th of 2015, it was clear that changes needed to be made to ensure that the integrity and good name of the Nevada State Athletic Commission would remain intact,” said Francisco Aguilar without a hint of irony or self-awareness in his voice.

He continued, “What message would it send to the sports community if we had to admit that our drug testing had fallen so far behind that it made the UFC’s policies look progressive?”

Mr. Aguilar’s opinion on the initial outcome of this new policy mirrored that of UFC President Dana White’s statement from last week that things would most likely get worse before they got better.

We know that there will be an initial backlash from our representatives. I know for a fact that requiring the judges present at ringside to be sober at future events will present an issue as most of them don’t know much about the sport and show little to no interest in the events taking place in the cage.

“We are glad that the NSAC has chosen our facilities to provide their drug testing services,” said Dr. David “Tank” Throatkick, Chief Physician at the Foothills Anti-doping Research and Control Establishment and graduate of the highly vaunted Hollywood Upstairs Medical College.

“We remain on the edge of progressive anti-doping testing procedures by instituting the standard tests in place while researching new and inventive ways to identify any performance enhancing chemicals. To ensure the accuracy of our results we will be administering urine test as well as requesting samples of the subject’s blood, hair, saliva, snot, and semen.”

When summoned, members of the NSAC will be required to submit the necessary samples or be subject to penalties based on the egregiousness and recurrence the of the offense. Examples of these penalties will include (but not be limited to): fines, suspensions, required appearances on Ariel Helwani’s podcast, life coaching sessions with the Diaz brothers, mandatory attendance at Fox Sports 1 UFC events from prelim to main event and other terrible punishments.

“It’s about damned time!” proclaimed Joe Rogan, UFC color commentator, noted conspiracy theorist and alleged comedian. “Seriously, did you hear the things that were being said at that hearing? Placing microchips into the fighter’s gloves? It’s unreal! I’ve said some pretty wild shit on my podcast after a blaze session with Eddie but even I couldn’t believe the nonsense they were spouting.”

UFC President Dana White was equally jovial when discussing the decision, although it was difficult to tell at first due to the bitter hostility in his tone.

“This is the fucking best think the NSAC could have fucking done. Easily the best pound for pound fucking decision they ever made” said White. “It’s been the worst kept fucking secret in sports. Anyone could have fucking seen this fucking coming from the terrible judging to early stoppages to that stupid fucking shit Cecil Peoples does when starting a fight. Anyone who wants to be a part of making crucial decisions in officiating or regulating our sport will have to ask themselves the question “Do you want to be a fucking teetotaler?”‘

Upon the announcement of the new policy, the reinstatement application for refereeing on behalf of Josh Rosenthal was voluntarily rescinded by the applicant.

The UFC and PEDs: Where Do We Go From Here?


(Photo via Getty.)

By Chris Huntemann, Columnist

Usually when I ask that question, it’s in the wake of a pay-per-view and I’m wondering aloud at what’s next for the fighters who competed on it. This time around, I’m talking about something that affects ALL mixed martial artists in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The UFC announced last week that it will implement far stricter, far more comprehensive drug testing in the wake of fighters like Anderson Silva and Hector Lombard failing tests for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), while Jon Jones and Nick Diaz failed tests for cocaine and marijuana, respectively.

Increased drug testing and harsher penalties can only help the UFC, and mixed martial arts in general. But what brought on this increase in failed tests?


(Photo via Getty.)

By Chris Huntemann, Columnist

Usually when I ask that question, it’s in the wake of a pay-per-view and I’m wondering aloud at what’s next for the fighters who competed on it. This time around, I’m talking about something that affects ALL mixed martial artists in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The UFC announced last week that it will implement far stricter, far more comprehensive drug testing in the wake of fighters like Anderson Silva and Hector Lombard failing tests for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), while Jon Jones and Nick Diaz failed tests for cocaine and marijuana, respectively.

Increased drug testing and harsher penalties can only help the UFC, and mixed martial arts in general. But what brought on this increase in failed tests? PEDs have been a part of sports long before MMA fighters started taking them, and they have been a problem in MMA prior to the last month-and-a-half.

But more fighters seem to be getting caught. As in most sports, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to perform in MMA and in the UFC. If you don’t perform, you basically don’t get paid. The increased demand for UFC programming by virtue of its deal with FOX could also be a factor. They went from being on Spike TV – where they only broadcast “The Ultimate Fighter” once a year and two or three live fight cards annually – to having three or more fight cards a month and airing “The Ultimate Fighter” twice a year on the FOX channels.

The increase in programming means a need of more bodies to fill that programming. It also means that more fighters are training for more fights, which can lead to more injuries. PEDs, in addition to giving you a competitive advantage over your opponent, allow you to recover from injuries more quickly. With the need for more fighters to fill more fight cards, I think it’s possible the apparent increase in failed drug tests can at least be partly attributed to that.

The UFC’s increased drug-testing measures take effect July 1. What can we expect once it does? Here are some of the guidelines the UFC presented.

Even UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta admitted during this week’s press conference that things “would get worse before they better” with the new testing. Plus, it remains to be seen how much of this will actually stick once July 1 rolls around. UFC previously considered expanding its drug-testing efforts before but pulled back, citing cost and a previously botched attempt at doing so.

However, with the rash of high-profile stars like Silva, Jones and Diaz failing tests, cost can’t be considered a hindrance and the UFC must be vigilant. Browsing my Twitter feed following the press conference, it was eerily quiet. Almost no fighters weighed in initially. It is likely that was just a byproduct of the press conference taking place on a Wednesday afternoon, when most people are working or presumably have other things to do besides post on Twitter. But it was still pretty telling. It seems like this has grabbed fighters’ attention, as it should.

What do I think will happen? There will be an increase in failed test once the new measures take effect July 1, I’m fairly confident. But given that the UFC is supporting harsh penalties for those who do fail – including a ban of up to four years – I expect the dirty fighters to eventually cycle themselves out and the ones who compete clean (which is most of them, presumably) to take a more prominent role.

Increased drug testing is long overdue in the UFC. The sport of mixed martial arts itself is still in its infancy, especially compared to other sports like football, basketball and baseball. But just like baseball is still recovering from its own crisis with PEDs, these recent failed drug tests have shaken the foundation of the UFC and have harkened back to the days when it was referred to as “human cockfighting.”

UFC adopted the slogan “The Time Is Now” for 2015, and I couldn’t agree more. The time is now for them to take the lead in cleaning up the sport of mixed martial arts.

Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also shares his thoughts on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.