No drug testing at Strikeforce: Houston is a Mickey Mouse mistake

MMA Junkie is reporting that none of the fighters at Saturday’s Strikeforce: Houston event were drug tested. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation overseeing the event doesn’t require testing and only conducts testing at the specific request of the promotion, such as when UFC 103 came to town. And Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker didn’t think it mattered enough to make such a request or to implement his own testing.

This is baffling. Why wouldn’t Coker want the fighters tested? Was it the expense? Was it just a case of “the TDLR doesn’t care so why should we?” The decision makes the promotion look shifty, unprofessional or both. Now, I’m not one of these “steroids are evil” pulpit pounders. I couldn’t care less that Shane Carwin has been connected to a steroid scandal. I think a lot of fighters take advantage of whatever they have available to them, considering the punishment their bodies take not just in the fights but during training. It’s as much about being able to heal muscles and recover quickly and keep training as much as it is building muscles and getting stronger.

That said, if you’re caught breaking the rules you need to pay the price. But the lack of drug testing by Strikeforce sends a message that they don’t care about holding fighters accountable to the rules. And that looks bad.