It was announced this morning, by NSAC Executive Director, Keith Kizer that Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal tested positive for an anabolic steroid, called Drostanolone, which is primarily used to aid breast cancer patients. King Mo has since declared his innocence, by denying usage of any steroid. Lawal told MMAWeekly:
“I never took nothing. Drostanolone, I don’t even know what that is!”
NSAC has yet to confirm their disciplinary plans for King Mo, but it is expected he will be fined 30 to 50 percent of his fight purse following his recent victory over Lorenz Larkin at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine and will face a suspension anywhere from 9 months to 1 year.
Meanwhile, UFC announced in a press release today that all new signees to either UFC or Strikeforce promotions will be subject to pre-contract performance enhancing drug screening. The press release explains that the policy which is effective from January 1st of 2012 is one more step in their commitment to the health and safety of the fighters. As of last May over 350 of the Zuffa athletes were eligible for “customized accident insurance” provided by the organization which not only included coverage of accidental injuries to athletes during training but also “non-training incidents such as automobile accidents,” as well.
Dana White said of the new pre-contract PED screening policy:
“The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority. 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.”
Could King Mo’s positive steroid test be a mistake? Well, possibly…though not likely. It’s a shame anytime these tests come back positive in a sport that is just getting its mainstream footing and due respect by gaining larger viewing audiences. This is the second positive steroid test within a couple weeks by a high profile fighter in the Strikeforce organization, as Cristian “Cyborg” Santos was just stripped of her Womens Featherweight title. Strikeforce just signed a new contract with Showtime network and can hopefully, with the help of the UFC quickly get past these embarrassing incidents.