When BJ Penn first agreed to fight Rory MacDonald at UFC 152 he also challenged his young opponent to join him in taking a series of VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency) supervised pre-fight drug tests, but since then there’s been confusion over whether it would go ahead or not.
While MacDonald immediately confirmed that he would be happy to do the tests, it emerged that Penn was trying to ensure that the results of the tests would only be disclosed after the fight so that if either fighter did test positive then it wouldn’t be detrimental to the event as a whole – but VADA weren’t comfortable with that.
At a UFC 152 press conference earlier this week MacDonald appeared to be under the impression that the tests were now off the table, but just a few days later it’s emerged that both fighters have now signed up to do it and the results will be disclosed before they fight.
“We just finished our enrollment in VADA,” Penn confirms on his website BJPenn.com. “I did an interview yesterday saying that what really made me happy to do it was we’re not the main event. We’re not carrying the card. I’m just glad how everything worked out. Everything worked perfect – they got a great main and co-main event and we got to do the VADA and take a step forward on helping the safety of mixed martial arts.”
Interestingly, Penn also notes that while his eight week training camp is beginning in Hawaii at his new UFC branded gym, he also is hoping to spent time at the AKA gym in San Jose where he used to train early on in his career.
That happens to be where one of Penn’s rivals Jon Fitch trains, but it seems ‘The Prodigy’ isn’t concerned about that.
“Fitch is trying to give me some problems about that, and all Jon Fitch has to do is look at who’s pictures on the wall holding the belt. That’s all Jon Fitch has to know.”
Watch Penn’s full video blog below.
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