Den senaste tidens dopningsskandaler inom MMA fick till slut UFC att ändra sina regler gällande tester och dopningsrelaterade straff.
CSAC:s Andy Foster är involverad i processen och enligt honom är dopningen inom sporten inte alls lika utbredd som utomstående personer kan tro, trots listan över fighters som åkt fast på kort tid.
Det här hade han att säga via the ”MMAHour”:
I mean, I do a lot of testing over here, so I look at all of the results that we get back, and certainly there is a problem. I think we all agree that there is a problem. Do I think that 90-percent of the fighters, or 80-percent, or even 50-percent of the fighters out there are doing performance enhancing drugs? I do not. I do not believe that. My evidence does not support that.
You get a fight card of 24 athletes and you get one or two who pop — the percentage of that is not that high. You even go to the out-of-competition stuff, and I think with the recent [results] — very small numbers, mind you — but what, 30-percent, or 38-percent, or whatever it was, who popped? I mean, that’s certainly a problem. Certainly it’s a problem, and I’m not saying it’s not a problem, but it’s not 90-percent of the people doing it.
Foster är själv en före detta fighter och hans egna uppfattning är att steroidanvändning ökar hos fighters äldre fighters som fortfarande tävlar mycket, vilket får de att ta större risker:
UFC planerar nu att införa hårdare straff och striktare dopningstester, som att till exempel slumpmässigt testa alla sina 500 fighters året runt, även utanför tävlingssammanhang.
Detta är något som kan innebära stora ekonomiska förluster under kort tid och många har ifrågasatt om det är en realistiskt plan som går att genomföra.
Det här hade Foster att säga om det:
Certainly I think they can. With any new program, they’ll have to get the logistics in order, but certainly they can. It’s going to be expensive, I would think. I know it’s going to be expensive.
I would guess that would be about two millions dollars. Two or three millions dollars. Maybe two million. Depends on how many times you want to test them, but that seems about right. Obviously (it also matters) what you want to test them for. I don’t know what they’re paying and all of that. I just know what our contract says and how much it costs and these different types of things. Depends on what you want to test them for. If you add blood to the mix as well, which I assume they do, it certainly increases the cost of the test.
I’m not a lab guy. I’ve never taken a performance enhancing drug and only have looked at the studies, so I don’t know. I don’t know if [fight night urine tests are] easy to beat or not. Maybe they are. But I think out-of-competition (tests are) good. That way people know that they can’t take [PEDs] during their training, so I think that’s important. I think increasing the penalties are important. Because what you want to create is an environment of deterrence and a clean sport.
