All fighters pass UFN 71 surprise testing

The PED tests that have historically been the norm in mixed martial arts are derided by critics as little more than an IQ test. If you know the time and type of test, you can easily scheduled your use of PEDs to beat it. Thus a test where all fighters come back clean can mean little more than every fighter on the card can count days.

However, for UFC Fight Night 71: Mir vs. Duffee, California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster surprise tested all North American-based fighters. This was done entirely independently from the UFC’s PED testing, and was done with CSAC funds. International fighters will be subject carbon isotope ratio testing on fight night, designed to catch prior use.

Estimates for percentage of top fighters that have used PEDs at some point range from 50% to 90%. Estimates for top fighters using PEDs currently vary, but few say they are 0. However, these tests were out of competition and unannounced. It suggest that whatever has happened in the past, PED use is not nearly as rampant currently as some critics have charged.

In a further complication, even Gilbert Melendez passed, although he was removed from the card after he he tested positive for exogenous origin of testosterone metabolites in his fight-night test at UFC 188 on June 13.

So we have a problem with PEDs in this sport, but when you surprise test most of an entire card and no one fails, it can no longer be characterized as rampant, at least in North America. However, the is another health and safety related issue that is rampant, and that is extreme weight cutting. Look for the sport to increasingly start addressing that more aggressively moving forward.

UFC Fight Night 71 takes place on Wednesday and is broadcast live on FOX Sports 1. The card is headlined by a heavyweight contender bout between Todd Duffee and Frank Mir.