Anti-Doping Agency feels UFC needs tougher testing
In an article that hasn’t gotten a lot of play nationally, I discovered this piece by Steve Keating from Reuters.com
The article discusses the World Anti-Doping Agency and their desire to see the UFC step up their drug testing for their fighters.
With a record 55,000 mixed martial arts fans expected to pack into the Rogers Center on Saturday for UFC 129, organizers say every fighter stepping into the cage for a title bout will be tested for performance-enhancing drugs.
But the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and USADA say they have had no role in the UFC’s anti-doping efforts and have not tested a single fighter.
Instead, testing has been left to individual state and provincial athletic commissions, which USADA chief Travis Tygart describes as woefully inadequate.
“They want, for public relation and marketing reasons, to say they have something that makes them look better than they truly are,” Tygart told Reuters.
“Why don’t they have better rules to give athletes and sports fans comfort that there is not a rampant culture of cheating with dangerous drugs going on in their sport?
“They’re trying to pull a fast one here.”
The UFC may be dropping the ball a little bit for this event when it comes to drug testing, but as a whole, the organization has seemingly done a good job of keeping fighters honest.
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, UFC
Tags: Chael Sonnen, Sean Sherk, Thiago Silva, Tim Sylvia, UFC
