UFC To Outline New Drug Testing Plan At Press Conference Tomorrow

mma and ufc news

The UFC will host a press conference in Las Vegas tomorrow to officially address the thorny issue of performance enhancing drugs in the sport after a series of a high-profile fighters failed tests recently.

Since the turn of the year Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Nick Diaz and Hector Lombard have all tested positive for banned substances and according to UFC President Dana White the presser will give both UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and himself an opportunity to outline what they plan to do about the problem going forward.

“We’ll address all the things that have happened lately, and what we’re going to do, and what’s going to happen from here on out,” White told reporters at the weekend following UFC Fight Night 60.

Just a few months ago the UFC backed away from doing their own out-of-competition testing after a botched drug test led to them suspending Cung Le for using Human Growth Hormone (HGH), only to then have to rescind his punishment when it emerged they didn’t have all the evidence they required to prove definitively that he had used the banned substance.

Acknowledging that they weren’t best equipped to tackle this level of testing themselves the UFC stated that from now on they would pay state athletic commissions to so that they could fund additional testing rather than doing it themselves.

It’s unclear at this stage what else, if anything, the organization may be looking to do in order to tackle the ongoing problem, but stiffer penalties for any fighters caught taking PED’s will surely be one of the most likely options being considered.

The press conference takes place tomorrow at 1pm ET (6pm UK) and will air live on the UFC.com website.

Ross launched MMA Insight (previously FightOfTheNight.com) in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts. He's since penned countless news stories and live fight reports along with dozens of feature articles as the lead writer for the site, reaching millions of fans in the process.