Fertitta clearly stated that his goal is for athletic commissions regulating UFC events to conduct enhanced pre-fight tests for all main events and championship fights, as well as fight night tests for every single athlete on every single card the company promotes. He also stated that his company will institute an out-of-competition testing program to be administered by an independent agency that will randomly test all 585 athletes on their roster. His goal for getting all of this up and running is July 1.
Both Fertitta and Dana White stated that they will advocate stiffer penalties for fighters who test positive. Their hope is that athletic commissions will adopt the World Anti-Doping Agency standard two-year ban for a first time offense. There is an ongoing debate that would raise that to a four-year ban, and the UFC brass said they would be fine with that as well because they don’t believe the current suspensions have been enough of a deterrent.
“Two to four years is career-threatening,” said White.
