White: ‘We’re testing the whole card now’
“What we used to do is we used to roll into town and the title fight always got tested, and there was random testing,” said Dana White. “We’re testing the whole card now.”
ZUFFA CEO Lorenzo Fertitta recently announced the advent of UFC-funded out-of-competition testing by athletic commissions, in an interview with SI’s Jeff Wagenheim.
Now UFC president Dana White has announced that at international events in countries without government regulation where the UFC self regulates, everyone is getting tested.
“As far as testing, what we used to do is we used to roll into town and the title fight always got tested, and there would be random testing,” White told Dave Doyle for MMAFighting. “We’re testing the whole card now. The whole card is getting tested. Everybody is getting tested.”
“Obviously, doing away with performance-enhancing drugs not only helps us run our business, but it also helps the fighters. Because if you can make sure you take a hard enough stance and you can keep these young, talented kids off these drugs, their careers are going to last longer. Once all the kids realize there is a level playing field, cause you have these guys paranoid, ‘I know this guy is using, I know he is, I know he is, I have to fight this guy and he’s on it, so maybe I should do it too’ once we can eliminate all that, it’s going to make the sport a lot better for everybody, them and us.”
White also discussed the end of Therapeutic Use Exemptions for Testosterone Replacement Therapy.
“Five guys were on TRT, out of 500 under contract. I’m actually glad it’s gone. I’m so f—ing glad it’s gone,” said White. “Because we’re still dealing with… you gotta get Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen licensed in Nevada, and Vitor, all need to get licensed in Nevada. Now the question becomes, because they were on it, their [testosterone to epitestosterone] ratios are still going up, even though their levels are down, and I’m like, ‘are you f— kidding me?’ They’re done, it’s over, and we still can’t figure it out? I’m so happy TRT is gone. It’s confusing, nobody understands it. Not even the doctors – the doctors don’t understand it. And if you talk to three, they have three different answers for ya, and they disagree on everything. I’m glad it’s gone.”