Here is the full overview of the UFC’s new anti-doping policy:
- Sample collection carried out by Drug Free Sport International
Beginning December 31, UFC athletes will be subject to unannounced sample collection by the UFC’s new biospecimen collection and shipping agency, Drug-Free Sport International (DFSI)), or one of its subsidiaries under contract. DFSI is a global leader in the anti-doping industry and currently collects biological samples for professional and amateur sports organizations, including Major League Baseball, National Football League, FIFA, PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, NCAA, NASCAR and others. DFSI has more than 5,000 collection employees worldwide, who will provide UFC with greater global coverage than it had under the previous program. Unannounced sample collections will occur 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. DFSI will only be the sample collector under the new program and will have no authority to adjudicate violations.
- Sample analysis performed by the Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory
Athletes’ samples will be analyzed at a center accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Salt Lake, City, Utah. SMRTL, considered by many in the industry to be the best anti-doping testing laboratory in the world, has extensive experience in analyzing UFC samples under the previous version of the anti-doping program. Dr Daniel Eichner, president and director of the SMRTL laboratory, will act as scientific advisor to the new program. Dr. Eichner is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading anti-doping scientists and will play an instrumental role in testing planning strategy, analyzing and interpreting athlete sample results. Under Dr. Eichner’s supervision, SMRTL will also conduct the highest percentage of “special analysis” testing in a professional sports program year-round, screening for banned substances like EPO, testosterone and human growth hormone.
- Administration and sanctions independently supervised by CSAD/George Piro
The administration of the UFC anti-doping program, including sanction decisions, will be carried out exclusively and independently by Anti-Doping Combat Sports (CSAD), and its president, George Piro, a senior executive with more than 30 years of distinguished service in federal and local law enforcement, including more than 20 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). During his distinguished career with the FBI, Piro held such notable roles as Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Office; Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Counterterrorism Branch of the Washington Field Office; and Supervisory Special Agent/Team Leader of Saddam Hussein’s interrogation team at
Baghdad. Piro is also a No-Gi, Jui-Jitsu Masters World Champion and is intimately familiar with the sport of MMA.
CSAD will continue the independent spirit of the UFC’s anti-doping policy, in which no results management or sanction decisions will be made by the UFC. With the technical assistance of the program’s scientific advisor, Dr Daniel Eichner, CSAD will retain all decision-making authority under the Program, including adjudication of Program violations, such as suspensions and whereabouts failures. Additionally, CSAD will maintain a “tipline” where any information regarding the use/abuse of performance enhancing drugs within the UFC can be reported to [email protected].
- Complete list of banned substances
The “Prohibited List,” detailing which substances are permitted and which are not, will generally remain the same as the previous program. The criteria for prohibited substances will be modeled after WADA’s in-competition and out-of-competition programs, with modifications based on historical findings (i.e. marijuana being removed from the list of prohibited substances). Additionally, decision concentration limits (thresholds) will be established to allow the program to differentiate between cases of intentional use of prohibited substances and cases resulting from unintentional exposure to low-level contaminants.
- New user-friendly digital location platform
UFC athletes will have access to the new UFC location platform to record their expected locations so they can easily be contacted for testing. The new platform is more user-friendly than the previous system and allows an athlete to quickly and easily update their Location deposit as their location changes due to circumstances over time.
All the details of the new UFC Anti-Doping Policyas well as additional information such as UFC Location Policy and the List of prohibited substances can be viewed on the new UFC Anti-Doping Program online portal. The site contains policy information in several languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.