http://www.ufc.com/news/ufc-pre-contract-ped-screening-press-release UFC® ANNOUNCES PRE-CONTRACT SCREENING POLICY FOR PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS
All Potential UFC and STRIKEFORCE® Signees Will Be Subject to Pre-Contract Testing Beginning Jan. 1, 2012
Continuing a commitment to the health and safety of its athletes, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship® announced today that all potential UFC®
and STRIKEFORCE® signees will be subject to a mandatory pre-contract
screening for performance-enhancing drugs. Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, all
incoming athletes will be tested prior to finalizing a contract with the
world’s premier mixed martial arts organization.
UFC and
STRIKEFORCE already work closely with the most prestigious regulators
and athletic commissions to ensure the healthy and safety of athletes
prior to competition. This includes contestants on The Ultimate
Fighter®, all of whom are pre-screened for performance-enhancing drugs
prior to participating on the longest-running sports reality show on
television.
All current UFC and STRIKEFORCE athletes will
continue to be screened for performance-enhancing drugs, both prior to
competition and at random, in accordance with athletic commission rules
and regulations.
“We’re committed to the health and safety of our
athletes and we take it very seriously,” UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo
Fertitta said. “We already work closely with athletic commissions to
protect our athletes and now we’re taking it one step further. We’re
going to test any potential UFC or STRIKEFORCE fighter before finalizing
their contract. This shows that we don’t want performance-enhancing
drugs in our sport.”
This pre-contract screening policy further
cements the organization’s dedication to the well-being of its athletes.
In May, the organization announced that nearly 350 UFC and STRIKEFORCE
independent contractor athletes would be eligible for customized
accident insurance coverage, an unprecedented policy that covers
accidental injuries suffered by athletes while training, as well as
non-training incidents such as automobile accidents.
“The health
and safety of our athletes is our top priority,” UFC President Dana
White said. “We’ve seen the issues performance-enhancing drugs have
caused in other sports and we’re going to do everything we can to keep
them out of the UFC and STRIKEFORCE. Our athletes are already held to
the highest testing standards in all sports by athletic commissions. Our
new testing policy for performance-enhancing drugs only further shows
how important it is to us to have our athletes competing on a level
playing field.”
UFC
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