State of the UFC: PED's Edition

 In 2014 the UFC saw card after card plagued by the dreaded "injury bug", this new enemy was nixing fights left and right and ultimately lead to an abysmal year in ratings and PPV buys for the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the world. However, as with any sport, injuries are part of the game. Chalk it up as a loss and move on with the show.  Now in 2015, the UFC faces a new, less forgivable worst enemy, performance enhancing drugs.

On February 18th, UFC president Dana White, CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, and head legal counsel Lawrence Epstein held a press conference to address the media and fans in regards to the recent boost of its fighters testing positive for banned substances and a new policy moving forward. Below is the "Testing Call To Action" the UFC plans to implement starting July 1st. 

 

 

With the UFC taking such drastic measures using this new program to stop PED's in the sport, we could see some serious changes in store for 2015. When a fighter the caliber of Anderson Silva is testing positive for PED's it sends a clear message to the UFC higher ups- no one can be trusted. And as disappointing as it was to me as a fan, I think  it was ultimately a blessing in disguise. The Silva drug test got the ball rolling on just how  important this issue actually is and the fact it needs some serious attention before it gets even worse. The UFC is no doubt fully committed to stopping this near epidemic before it's too late, pledging millions of dollars in funding to in/out of competition random PED testing and bringing down harsh punishment to those who test positive, including a suspension of 2-4 years for first time offenders. Fighters would be foolish not to abide by these rules because a suspension that results in a few years could have career changing ramifications.

 

 The question remains though, with only a few big draws in the company right now, if more than half the athletes are using PED's, is it really in the UFC's best interest to suspend fighters that are first time offenders for 2-4 years for testing positive? I ask this because for years I have been hearing fighters guesstimating the amount of fighters using PED's in the UFC, I have heard as high as 90% but never less than 50%, which leads me to believe that number must be somewhere in the middle. If this is true then the UFC will surely succeed in cleaning up its promotion, but at what cost? Maybe a few main events, some prelim fights, who knows what will happen or who will get caught. I just hope by July 1st every fighter under contract can confidently pee in a cup without worry of losing their jobs.

Here's to hoping. 

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