No drug testing for UFC 69 & 70!

[Fizz]

After a really charged year for drug testing agencys in the world of MMA(at least 15 athletes were caught) UFC opts for no test in there events... I don't know but it smells like a no contest to me!

Fighters from neither Houston’s UFC 69 event nor last weekend’s UFC 70 event in England underwent drug testing following their bouts, according to Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle.

According to Sievert, officials from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation stated that the drug testing was the responsibility of the “sanctioning body” of UFC 69, which in this case, was none other than the UFC.

The UFC simply chose not to test anyone.

Sievert has some feedback from Marc Ratner, the UFC’s vice president of regulatory affairs, regarding the matter. Unfortunately, he doesn’t offer much in the way of an explanation, other than saying the UFC would have had no authority to discipline the fighters even if they did test positive for performance-enhancing or recreational drugs. (Really?)

Add this latest fiasco to growing list of grievances regarding the TDLR and its first-ever UFC event in the state of Texas. Earlier this month, UFCjunkie.com contacted the commission to get a list of salaries from the fighters at the April 7 event. This information is readily available from other state commissions and considered a matter of public record.

However, with the Texas commission, our numerous phone calls and email messages were ignored. No explanation was given, and no information was sent. I later learned that other media outlets were told that the commission wouldn’t release the information until the state’s attorney general decided whether or not the figures could stay private. Of course, UFCjunkie.com never got an answer either way.

Sievert also asked Ratner about testing for UFC 70, which took place in Manchester, England. Ratner said they simply had no legal means to do it.

However, just a few days before the UFC 70 event, UFC president Dana White said that the organization would administer the drug tests — and that Ratner, the former head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, would be in charge of the process. White made the comments during a conference call to reporters a few days before the event.

Said White:

[Each drug test] will be a random drug test, and actually, what we are doing for this is Marc Ratner will be overseeing and has flown over a lot of inspectors, judges and referees. As far as safety goes, we always go overboard. Ratner is overseeing the whole thing.

The tests, of course, never happened.

In fact, England was apparently so ill-prepared for the event that the UFC reportedly had to fly over two U.S. inspectors, three judges and a doctor who consulted with local officials on the night of the event.

England’s Boxing Board of Control, after all, does not regulate MMA.

As Sievert stated:

The UFC has pushed a lot of right buttons in helping to legitimize mixed martial arts and gain a level of respect for the sport’s fighters that was unthinkable just a few years ago. However, the promotion needs to do better with the drug-testing issue before it does more damage to the sport.

The full report is available at the Houston Chronicle’s “Brawl Sports” blog.

[T_Boner]

Interesting. Given the size (and money involved) of the UFC/Pride now and their push toward being a legit sport, I think they should adopt some formal policies and procedures and test all the fighters.

[kimwhora]

i thought the athletic commision was in charge of testing, not the ufc

[dust4]

Originally Posted by kimwhora

i thought the athletic commision was in charge of testing, not the ufc

Not in Texas or the UK, noob.

[FJ40]

UFC is not a sanctioning body, they want an independant body to do testing , UFC doinf their own testing doesn't scream of legitimacy.

[eltigre39]

Do boxing promoters do their own testing in Texas and the UK?

Do UFC fighter contracts allow for non-commission testing? In other sports, management had to collectively bargain with player unions before they could institute testing. There's no union of MMA fighters, but at the time of the writing of their contracts UFC may not have envisioned holding shows in non-commission states/countries, and didn't include testing provisions.

Just something to think about.

[Darwinist]

I don´t think it is fair to blame Zuffa for not doing the job that isn´t theirs to begin with. If the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation doesn´t want or isn´t prepared to do drug tests, then there is absolutely no point in Zuffa as a promoter to perform these drug tests. First off those tests are expensive, and partly the reasons athletic commissions, or in this case the TDLR get a part of the revenue from shows, to fund their activities. I assume that Texas took the money and then didn´t really perform up to the level of professionalism we are used to from the more well-known AC´s in Nevada and California.

Secondly, even if the UFC did the drug tests themselves, how could the results ever be considered legitimate? They have a vested interest in fighters and the reputation of the org, so why should they NOT chuck positive tests in the thrashcan? I´m not saying that they would, but if everyone tested clean across the board, the cloud of suspicion would remain.

England is a whole different kettle of fish in that the boxing commissions(which in the US have expanded into regulating MMA) refuse to touch the sport and want nothing to do with it. This is a serious problem that needs to be adressed, either by setting up a wholly seperate government-recognized commission in cooperation with Cage Rage, Cagewarriors and the other local orgs.

These issues were really inevitable as the UFC expands into new markets. Once the commissions catch on to the fact that these events are raking in cash they´ll flock to sanction them, drug testing and all because it means they get a part of the take.

This is going to happen every time a new market is penetrated. Japan, by the way, has been un-sanctioned from the get-go, and REALLY needs to be reformed.