UFC challenges ‘other combat sports companies’ to join fight vs PEDs
Lorenzo Fertitta: “There’s certainly other combat sports companies in MMA. Companies that have the same resources if not more resources that we have.”
Mixed martial arts was once so weak that the now defunct Ultimate Athlete magazine said If not for the UnderGround forum … the sport might have died as PPV buy rates had sunk to such abysmal levels. Then the Fertitta brothers and Dana White elevated mixed martial arts to a level that then seemed about as likely as likely as shacking up with Carmen Electra.
Now for a second time the sport was looking at calamity. Pre ZUFFA, MMA was little noticed. And when it was noticed by the mainstream media, it was despised. it remains a hard sell to the average, unexposed citizen – two bald guys with tattoos climb into a cage and elbow each other and knee each other and kick each other and punch each other and twist joints like an angry little brother in his sister’s Barbie collection, until the referee rips them apart.
When you add rampant steroid use to the description, it reaches a tipping point, and is no longer acceptable to the mainstream, up where it belongs.
On Wednesday the UFC announced a series of measures to clean up the world’s dominant league.
“Were going to move a lot faster than baseball did,” said UFC president Dana White. “They’re hitting a ball with a stick. Who cares?”
“You have two human beings, who go in and compete jn combat sports. And if one is using performance enhancing drugs, it’s incredibly dangerous. I hate it. I hate everything about it. If you can’t compete, based on your natural abilities, you don’t belong here.
“I feel like we’ve always been the leader, in this industry, in combat sports period. From health insurance for the fighters, to everything that we’ve done since day one. I’d like to see a lot of the other combat sports companies doing this too. Not just us.”
UFC Chairman & CEO Lorenzo Fertitta agreed.
“There’s certainly other combat sports companies in MMA,” he said. “Companies that have the same resources if not more resources that we have.”
Finally White added two more words.
“And boxing,” he said.
Fertitta was of course referring to the Viacom-owned Bellator MMA. Viacom through its Spike cable channel also broadcasts Glory Kickboxing, as well as boxing.
Gareth A Davies for England’s The Daily Telegraph recently spoke with Bellator president Scott Coker about addressing the PED problem in MMA through comprehensive, random, out-of-competition testing. Coker agreed it was necessary.
There are so many athletes out there who are clean and not taking drugs. I just hope the journalists and fans don’t say, ‘Right, this is MMA.’ It’s not,” said Coker. “You’re talking about three athletes (Jon Jones, Nick Diaz, and Anderson Silva) but there are thousands of athletes that fight in MMA. I’d hate to see that be thrown on everybody. Hopefully that won’t happen.
It can’t just be one (organization). It has to be everybody together. The only way that can happen is if the athletic commission says, ‘Ok, we’re all going to do WADA testing.’ California, Nevada, New Jersey and everyone else gets together and says, ‘Hey, we’re going to require WADA testing for all MMA events.’ Then it could happen. If it’s just one league trying it, it won’t work. If we do it and the UFC don’t, it won’t work. But, if the commission required it, everybody would do it.
Mixed martial arts is not acceptable when it is fueled by steroids. That simple fact may be lost on some passionate if befuddled members of the hardcore fanbase, but it can’t be lost on ViaCom. Expect Bellator to soon join the good fight.