Last week, we reported that Biogenesis whistleblower Porter Fischer implicated unnamed mixed martial artists as recipients of the company's performance enhancing drugs in addition to the athletes from other major league sports. While the identity of any fighters tied to the Florida-based clinic remains unknown, one of the biggest questions has been how the UFC would respond if someone on their roster was named.
While UFC president Dana White said he hasn't been following the story closely, he did address the issue with reporters following UFC on Fox 8 on Saturday. MMA Junkie reported his statements:
"Obviously, it's an athletic commission issue, but it's just one of those things. It's just another f---king headache I don't need."
He did not say definitively if he would cut a UFC fighter who appears on the clinic's client list, but said, "If a guy signs a contract with me and then comes out a list, it's not going to be good. It's going to suck."
White reiterated the importance of the state athletic commissions who conduct drug testing for UFC events in keeping the promotion and the sport clean of PED users:
"If you're one of the big guys, you're getting tested," White said. "And if you're remotely suspicious, you're getting tested. It's the government. It's how they make their money. They bust these guys on this stuff. That's how they get paid. That's what they're there to do. They want to catch people. Trust me.
"Athletic commissions aren't doing me any favors at all, and who is a bigger pain in the ass to the athletic commission than me? All I do is talk about their f--king judges and referees."
If things play out as White hopes, no one on the UFC roster will be named in the Biogenesis scandal. However, as Brent Brookhouse pointed out in the original article, the high-end, expensive nature of the clinic would most likely be cost prohibitive to all but the sports' more prominent athletes. Additionally, with the MLB delivering stiff punishments to PED-ban violators, it'll be hard for White and the UFC to hide behind their usual "we're tested by the government" defense.
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