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None of the fighters who competed on the two recent UFC events in the state of Nevada were asked to take out-of-competition drug tests prior to the events, according to Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer.

A total of 20 fighters competed on the UFC's "Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale" in Las Vegas on June 19, including one fighter who has previously tested positive for anabolic steroids (Chris Leben), but none of these 20 fighters had to take an out-of-competition drug test.

A total of 22 fighters competed at UFC 116 in Las Vegas on July 3, including two fighters who have previously tested positive for anabolic steroids (Chris Leben and Stephan Bonnar), but none of these 22 fighters had to take an out-of-competition drug test.

The question of whether any out-of-competition drug testing had been administered to any of the fighters on the UFC 116 card was first posed to Keith Kizer on Tuesday, June 29, but the question was not answered until Sunday, July 4, after the completion of the UFC 116 event.

Less than one month ago, there was a public meeting about the Nevada State Athletic Commission's drug testing program on June 9. At one point during the meeting, NSAC Commissioner and Chairwoman Pat Lundvall asked Travis Tygart, the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, to evaluate the NSAC's current drug testing program. Tygart's paraphrased response was, "You can do better. You can do a lot better, and I ask you to do so on behalf of clean athletes."

Tygart added that when athletes are coming to USADA for drug testing because they know that the NSAC's drug testing is inadequate, something is wrong. Tygart would be referring to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Shane Mosley, and there were also statements that were made a few weeks ago by Josh Koscheck indicating that he wants USADA testing for his upcoming UFC fight against Georges St. Pierre, to which St. Pierre reportedly agreed. However, UFC President Dana White later said in public interviews that Koscheck needs to "shut up" about his desire for USADA-level drug testing in his UFC fights.

In addition to the NSAC's lack of any blood-based drug testing, both Tygart and Dr. Robert Voy said at the June 9 meeting that there is a reliable, urine-based drug test for EPO that is not currently being used by the NSAC.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 2:01 AM

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