UFC Announces New Drug-Testing Program Effective Dec. 31

.@UFC announces details of new anti-doping program ⤵️:https://t.co/LiIP8sgcfXhttps://t.co/LiIP8sgcfX

— UFC News (@UFCNews) December 29, 2023

Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters will find that little will change for them going forward.

The promotion sent out a press release on Thursday announcing its new policies on drug testing and doping. Titled the "UFC Anti-Doping Policy (UFC ADP)," it will begin for the company on Dec. 31 as it concludes its arrangement with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Competitors will still be subject to random drug tests at any time during the day by the new agency in place, Drug Free Sport International (DFSI), or an organization DFSI has contracted out.

All samples will be tested by the Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Salt Lake City, which currently handles testing in accordance with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) protocols and procedures. Heading up the program will be Dr. Daniel Eichner, who currently serves as SMRTL’s president and lab director. The standard anti-doping tests will run for all samples, and a percentage of them will be subject to “special analysis” which checks for difficult to trace banned substances like testosterone or EPO.

Unlike the UFC’s arrangement with USADA, DFSI will have no say over failed tests. DFSI will not be granted any authority to levy sanctions on fighters that test positive for banned substances. Instead, that power will be given to Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD). This organization will be run by George Piro, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent who currently trains at famed gym American Top Team in Florida. The UFC still plans on keeping a third party as the entity to suggest suspensions or fines for drug test failures, and CSAD will serve as that body when it receives findings and results from DFSI.

There will be very few changes to the list of banned substances, as SMRTL adheres to WADA restrictions, which are almost identical to those prohibited by USADA. The UFC has stated that it will model its criteria based on WADA, but not that it will follow WADA's criteria directly–it is unclear exactly how the UFC's will differ at this point. According to the UFC, some allowable thresholds will be increased, including marijuana and other products related to tainted substances or the accidental use of a product. Finally, the UFC plans on altering the program once in place for listing Whereabouts, so that testers can accurately locate fighters and test them. This should include some simplification of the system to let fighters more easily change their location should they unexpectedly travel or find themselves away from where they had listed.