Texas AC not doing random, out of competition testing at UFC 185
Greg Alvarez: “Nobody has ever brought it up. If it gets brought up at our medical board, then it would get put on the agenda and we would talk about it.”
Beating a pre fight urine test for PEDs and recreational drugs is an IQ test. That is why mixed martial arts is moving towards comprehensive, random, out of competition testing. Comprehensive refers to testing both urine and blood; the latter is harder to beat. Random and out of competition mean the athlete does not know when the test is, making it far, far more difficult to beat.
Unfortunately, it is extremely expensive, and many state Athletic Commissions do not have it in their budget. Further, it is so new in MMA that some ACs have no policy in place to administer it, or even have yet to consider it. This is the case in Texas, where UFC 185 will take place on March 14.
“Nobody has ever brought it up,” said Greg Alvarez, director of the Texas Combative Sports Program director, to Marc Raimondi for MMAFighting.com. “If it gets brought up at our medical board, then it would get put on the agenda and we would talk about it.”
“When we test, we test whether it’s going to affect their ability that day in that fight.”
“The way it’s set up here in Texas, we don’t do that pre-testing beforehand. Just the day of.”
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation will be testing all fighters at UFC 185, and paying for it out of their own budget. Alvarez said there are no plans at present to change the process in Texas, until it is added to their medical advisory board agenda.
While large ACs like Nevada and California are administering comprehensive, random, out of competition testing, the first such testing in the country was done in Maryland, under the direction of Patrick Pannella, Executive Director of the Maryland State Athletic Commission.
Pannella oversaw the testing of both UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and challenger Glover Teixeira ahead of their fight at UFC 172 on April 26, 2014. The testing was a success, and both fighters were clean. Although Pannella is a highly accomplished and respected regulator, he demonstrated conclusively that it does not require a marquee commission to do effective testing.
UFC promises to be one of the best cards of the year, with UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis fighting Rafael dos Anjos, UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza fighting Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks fighting Matt Brown.