Maysey on Drug Testing: A Sensible Approach

Rob Maysey over at the MMAFA blog details the unfair process that presented itself after the Affliction and EliteXC cards in July:

With twenty-two (22) fighters appearing on the EliteXC card, and twenty (20) fighters on the Affliction card, fans quickly utilized the disclosures made by CSAC to eliminate those fighters whose results had already been revealed. A total of twenty-five (25) fighters remained whose test results were pending. Rampant rumor and speculation followed, with virtually all of the remaining twenty-five fighters being linked, at one time or another, to steroids or other illicit drug use.

A much better policy, I believe, would be to either (i) announce all drug testing results on one occasion, or (ii) respond to media inquiries by providing only the date that subsequent results will be announced. CSAC’s current practice unnecessarily creates tension for fighters, and leads to rumor and innuendo which is entirely unfair to the athletes who test clean. As well, false positives can and do sometimes occur. This fact, coupled with CSAC’s disclosure that additional positive results would be forthcoming, serves to disrupt the lives of the remaining twenty-five (25) fighters whose results had not yet been released. I see little benefit to CSAC in making the disclosures Mr. Douglas made to MMAweekly, and many benefits to the athletes, their families, friends and loved ones, in the policy I suggested above.

The approach put forward by Maysey makes sense but I have my doubts about the CSAC having the good sense to implement it. The CSAC is arbitrary by it’s very nature in overseeing the drug testing procedures for mixed martial artists in the state, but having a system set up as it is now casts an unfair air of suspicion on those that didn’t test positive. The piecemeal release of results doesn’t serve to help or protect the fighters the commission is charged with overseeing.

Source: MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA