Dana White, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president, has been on the defensive trying to defend the integrity of the UFC’s anti-doping program. The UFC claims that it has the most rigorous steroid-testing program in North America. However, it appears that only morons get caught in the UFC program. (What about the “smart” athletes?)
“If you get caught using steroids these days you seriously have to be a moron,” according to the UFC President.
The primary critics of the UFC anti-doping program are the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Of course, these organizations also have their own best interests in mind as they seek to control the testing for more and more professional and amateur sports leagues around the world. Steroid testing is a business and the fact that WADA, CCES and USADA have not tested any UFC fighters means that they are missing out on lost revenue.
Nonetheless, USADA chief Travis Tygart has several valid points about the inadequacy of testing in the UFC. WADA, and its national partners, probably have the most comprehensive anti-doping protocol in existence today. UFC testing, which is subject to individuals states and athletic commissions that oversee and sanction the fighting events, can’t compare to WADA anti-doping protocols.
“They want, for public relation and marketing reasons, to say they have something that makes them look better than they truly are,” Tygart told Reuters. […]
“Not only are they not WADA Code compliant they have fought tooth and nail not to have any principles of the WADA Code,” said Tygart. “It’s a joke that they claim they are trying to protect their sport with WADA policies.
“Make no mistake, rules that apply to UFC in the states are horrific in comparison to the WADA Code.”
Steroids have never really been bad for sport as long as the truth about doping in sports was carefully hidden through effective public relations and marketing efforts. Major League Baseball did a terrible job managing the “steroid problem” and this significantly hurt public perception of the sport as baseball appeared to have a significant problem. On the other hand, the National Football League skillfully managed PR to give the impression that its anti-doping policies were thorough and effective. The NFL, by most accounts, has a significantly greater “steroid problem” than MLB and many other sports, yet they have escaped the damaging scrutiny through effective PR.
Can Dana White create the perception that steroids are not a problem in the UFC?
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