UFC
UFC 152: B.J. Penn wants VADA drug testing for Rory MacDonald bout, but only if results are withheld
Jul 16, 2012 - 5:15:41 PM UFC 152: B.J. Penn wants VADA drug testing for Rory MacDonald bout, but only if results are withheld

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The issue of performance enhancing drugs in mixed martial arts has gained increasing prevalence this year with testosterone replacement therapy coming to light and several high-profile fighters getting popped for steroids. There are questions surrounding just how clean (or not clean) the sport is as a whole, and some segments would like to take steps to fix that.

However, there are other issues at bay that make the implementation of effective wide scale drug testing a difficult proposition, not the least of which is the fact that fights can fall through if fighters fail tests. That brings us to UFC 152, and the welterweight bout between Rory MacDonald and a returning B.J. Penn.

Both fighters were approached by VADA, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, about taking part in their program for their fight at UFC 152. The two discussed it back and forth on Twitter, and agreed to take part for the fight. However, at least in Penn's situation, he did so without fully understanding how their system works.

By taking part in VADA's program, each fighter would be tested at random in the weeks leading up to the event, and would have to inform VADA of their whereabouts at all times in order to take their tests immediately. The results are then announced and given to the respective commission in charge of overseeing the event. For Penn, he wanted the results to be withheld until after the fight, so as not to affect the fight itself.

"This isn't an amateur sport," Penn said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "What I expressed to VADA was that results need to be released after the fight, but VADA wants to do it before the fight, and I said, 'I'm not trying to put the UFC's fight in danger by doing that.' I said, 'What's the problem? Let's do the results after the fight.' ...

"It doesn't do me any good to train for three months, and I don't get to fight. It doesn't do MacDonald any good, and it doesn't do any good for (UFC co-owners) Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta to put millions of dollars into marketing a fight that could get canceled. I'm not trying to put any pressure on Dana White. He has nothing to do with this. When the anti-doping agency can come on friendly terms and be more welcome with a company like the UFC, I think that's what they should do, and I don't know why they're waiting and pushing this to take longer."

Penn's so adamant about having the results come out afterward that he's offered to pay for the entire thing himself to get that concession.

"Everything can be negotiated," Penn said. "I would even suggest to VADA if you want me to pay for it – because they're doing the sponsorship thing – if I pay for it, can we release the results after the fight? I've expressed this many times to Victor Conte, who is one of the people who is heavily involved with VADA."

"My hands are tied. I'm not trying to put any pressure on the people who are trying to make me money, but if Dana White doesn't get paid, B.J. Penn doesn't get paid."

Despite Penn's pleas, that isn't the way VADA works, and so they're likely to be uninvolved with this particular fight.

Penick's Analysis: The entire point of VADA is to provide for clean athletes stepping into the cage come fight night. Allowing a fighter to fight if he tests positive goes completely against what they're trying to do, and leaves them liable to the opponent of a fighter who tests positive. This isn't to say that MacDonald or Penn or on anything, or that someone would test positive prior to the fight to take it away from the UFC and this event, but that's what it would be in place to catch. Penn can't have it both ways here. Cleaning up the sport does not mean punishing fighters after the fact if they're caught beforehand. Yes, it can lead to some business problems, and fights can be canceled, but they'd also be catching fighters who are cheating with a more effective random test than what is currently being done by the commissions. If MacDonald was on something that caused him to test positive and take him out of the fight, that's on him, and the UFC would book Penn in a different fight for his return and he'd still get paid. VADA cannot withhold the results once the tests have been done, and Penn is showing a complete lack of comprehension of the system and why it's done the way it is by making these comments.

[B.J. Penn art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]