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Tuesday, August 01, 2006
 
Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Drug Test Results and Costs
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The Nevada State Athletic Commission's drug test results for the past three UFC events have all come back clean.

While main event fighters are normally drug tested whether they're in a title fight or not, the fighters in two of the past three main event fights were not drug tested. However, there was a slightly higher level of random testing.

When asked about the actual costs of drug testing each fighter, the Nevada State Athletic Commission told MMAWeekly that the steroid test for any given fighter costs $154.50, the drug screen (which also tests for recreational drugs) costs $78.90, and the stimulant test costs $45.00. The total cost of drug testing one fighter is $278.40.

The fighters who were drug tested on the June 24th "Ultimate Finale" event were Ultimate Fighter 3 finalists Michael Bisping, Josh Haynes, Kendall Grove, and Ed Herman. All four of those fighters passed their drug tests.

Though Kenny Florian and Sam Stout fought in the main event of the evening, neither fighter was drug tested. The total amount spent on drug testing for the evening $1,113.60.

On the June 28th "Ultimate Fight Night" card, the main event fight was Anderson Silva vs. Chris Leben, but once again the main event fighters were not drug tested.

Instead, the NSAC chose to test two random fighters out of the 18 who competed on the card. The two fighters who were randomly selected were Jorge Gurgel and Jason Lambert, both of whom passed their drug tests. The total amount spent on drug testing for the evening was $556.80.

At the UFC 61 card on July 8th, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski were still drug tested because it remains mandatory that all title fighters must be drug tested. Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock were not drug tested because they were not in a title fight.

The NSAC chose to test one random fighter out of the 16 non-title fighters who competed on the card, and the fighter who was randomly selected was Jeff Monson. Sylvia, Arlovski, and Monson all passed their drug tests. The total amount spent on drug testing for UFC 61 was $835.20.

In total on the three aforementioned events, there were nine fighters who were drug tested and 45 fighters who were not drug tested. The total amount spent on drug testing for the three events was $2,505.60.

MMAWeekly contacted Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the NSAC, and asked why the NSAC doesn't drug test all fighters, given the fact that the NSAC's cut of the UFC's event revenue would easily cover the cost of drug testing for the UFC and for any other MMA promotion that runs events in Nevada.

Kizer said, "We do not drug test all contestants because of the cost. Plus, I like having the element of surprise. You will see the Commission testing a lot more fighters in the future than you have in the past."

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