The world-leading Mixed Martial Arts organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), is finally doing something to curb the use of performance enhancing drugs by its athletes.
Although the initiative to bring about changes in testing and penalties for those caught using PEDs is long overdue, the UFC deserves credit for taking a stand against cheating.
Performance enhancing drugs are certainly not exclusive to MMA. Baseball and football in particular are constantly bombarded with scandals of players trying to gain an edge by taking these illegal substances. The difference between MMA and other sports with PED problems is that performance enhancers in MMA are life-threatening to opponents.
All combat sports are inherently dangerous. So just adding in extra muscle and extra strength can end in violent results. The UFC’s most dominant champion ever, women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, has even argued that PED users get such an unfair and dangerous advantage that they should be criminally charged. When talking about rival Cristino “Cyborg” Justino, Rousey aired her feelings on those who seek to get an unnatural advantage.
“I mean, that girl in my eyes should be charged with attempted negligent homicide. Coming into the cage with performance-enhancing drugs is the equivalent of walking in there with a weapon.” (MMAfighting.com, Nov. 2014).
Not only are PEDs dangerous to the athletes but they also endanger the sport of MMA itself. MMA has always struggled to be seen as a legitimate mainstream sport because of the sheer brutality and violence inherent of the sport. This is easy to see as MMA contests are still not legal in the state of New York.
The UFC knew that they had to take action to avoid scandals like the one that occurred after UFC 183 when Anderson Silva, a man who many consider to be the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, tested positive for two anabolic steroid metabolites. Lorenzo Fertitta, the CEO of the UFC, said in the UFC’s announcement of the new drug testing policy that the controversy after UFC 183 helped to spur drastic changes to the company’s outlook on steroid use.
“Given the recent spate of high-profile cases, we felt like we needed to do this sooner rather than later,” Fertitta said. “For the good of the sport, for the integrity of the sport, for what we’re trying to do here, we needed to address this issue ASAP.” (MMAfighting.com, Feb. 2015).
The UFC’s new stance on drug-testing will include random out-of-competition testing for all fighters on the roster, drug testing for every fighter on fight night, and additional testing for fighters in main event and championship contests.
The company is also advocating for harsher punishments for those caught using PEDs. Fertitta said during the press conference that the UFC would like to adopt lengthier suspensions for those trying to gain an advantage and the UFC is looking to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as a model for punishments.
“We understand that WADA is either contemplating or will institute a first-time offender a four-year ban; we will absolutely support that as well. There has to be harsher penalties to rid the sport of PED usage.” (Foxsports.com, Feb. 2015).
Above all, Fertitta and the UFC want PED users to know that there is nowhere to hide with the company’s new stance.
“You will be tested in competition. You will be tested out of competition. And if you are using performance enhancing drugs, you will be caught and there will be significant penalties that will go along with that,” Fertitta said. (Foxsports.com, Feb. 2015).
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