Back in 2015, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) picked up a new anti-doping program. This time around, the world’s most famous mixed martial arts promotion joined forces with the United Stated Ant-Doping Agency (USADA). That being said, it would appear that there may be a loophole in the system used by the agency to test fighters. As a result, it is possible some fighters are able to cheat the system and avoid drug tests.
As reported by Bloody Elbow, when a fighter returns from retirement, by WADA rules, the fighter must first undergo drug testing for six months. However, the UFC’s anti-doping policy often dictates that a waiver is given to the fighter. Where things get strange is that it is impossible to know which fighters are retired and which ones are returning from retirement at any time. The registered testing pool of fighters is not provided by USADA or the UFC, making it impossible to know which fighters are truly under anti-doping scrutiny. As a result, a fighter could perhaps theoretically retire and then unretire when they have a fight coming up. The process would allow the fighter to circumvent months of drug testing before their next match up.
While it is not clear if this is happening in the UFC, the practice seems theoretically possible under the current procedures of the promotion and the anti-doping organization.
