The UFC and Strikeforce will now test all incoming fighters for performance enhancing drugs before a contract can be signed with either promotion, their parent company Zuffa announced today.
The news comes on the heels of positive steroids tests by Strikeforce’s “King” Mo Lawal and women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.
“The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’ve seen the issues performance-enhancing drugs have caused in other sports and we’re going to do everything we can to keep them out of the UFC and STRIKEFORCE. Our athletes are already held to the highest testing standards in all sports by athletic commissions. Our new testing policy for performance-enhancing drugs only further shows how important it is to us to have our athletes competing on a level playing field.”
The testing will also include competitors on The Ultimate Fighter, which moves to FX for its 15th season in March, while current fighters will continue to be screened by athletic commissions at their fights and at random.
