In the wake of Anderson Silva’s 3 failed drug test for PED’s followed by a failed drug test by Hector Lombard, the UFC had no choice then to take action.
A press conference was held this afternoon where UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Feritta discussed the matter.
White had this to say at the press conference. “”What happened was we started spending half a million dollars on out of competition testing,” White said. “And I think when a guy like Anderson Silva gets caught, it definitely sends a message. I think that shocked the entire MMA community and the sports world. It shocked me. We were pretty blown away by it. And now we’re going to dig in.”
Feritta later echoed Dana’s statement by saying this. “We’ve been working on this for a couple of years,” “We’ve been in conversation with third parties for at least six or seven months. We made a lot of progress.
“What the Anderson Silva thing has prompted us to [do is] come out and address these issues, to make sure we’re speeding up the process. We don’t have the luxury of kind of sitting back and being academic and debating all these legal points. We just got to go. And however the cards fall they’re going to fall. But we’re going to make sure that fighters are being tested, and the results will be what the results will be.”
Epstein added that the UFC still supports Silva, who is entitled to his due process with the Nevada Athletic Commission, and that his they would continue to do so as things unfold.
“Regardless of what happens, Anderson Silva has been a great champion and he’s been a great representative of the sport,” Epstein said. “If something bad happened here, the Nevada Athletic Commission will handle that. But, he does have, he had a great career, and we’ll continue to honor that and stand behind him regardless of what happens with the athletic commission.”
It was also said that from this point forward every single fighter on the roster would be tested for PED’s and if it cost extra the UFC wok be willing to cover the cost. Dana also pretty much said “if you’re using PEDs your going to get caught” he went on to say that if you need PEDs to fight then maybe you shouldn’t be here” it was also said that if champions fail test that they would be stripped of their title.
I think this is a positive step for the UFC. Now maybe the sport will start gaining the respect of the naysayers. What do you guys think of this ground breaking announcement? Do you agree or disagree?
The audio from the press conference can be heard here http://youtu.be/I8B6wKg5gT8
-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)
Wrestling News Blog 