UFC announces pre-contract PED testing
Going forward, any fighter looking to sign with the UFC or Strikeforce will have to be drug-free before putting pen to paper.
The UFC announced Tuesday that all potential UFC and Strikeforce signees will be subject to a mandatory pre-contract screening for preformance-enhancing drugs. All incoming athletes will be tested before finalizing contracts with either organization.
The UFC said it will continue to test fighters for PEDs both prior to bouts and at random, in accordance with state and other governmental athletic commission rules and regulations.
“We’re committed to the health and safety of our athletes and we take it very seriously,” UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said in a release from the organization. “We already work closely with athletic commissions to protect our athletes and now we’re taking it one step further. We’re going to test any potential UFC or Strikeforce fighter before finalizing their contract. This shows that we don’t want performance-enhancing drugs in our sport.”
The new PED policy follows the annoucment in May that saw the organization announce that nearly 350 UFC and Strikeforce independent-contractor athletes would be eligible for customized accident-insurance coverage. This policy covers accidental injuries suffered by athletes while training, as well as non-training incidents such as automobile accidents.
“The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority,” UFC president Dana White said. “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.”
