UFC issued a press release on Tuesday to announce that all potential UFC and Strikeforce signees will be subject to a mandatory pre-contract screening for performance enhancing drugs. The policy went into effect on January 1, 2012.

"The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority,” UFC President Dana White stated in the press release. "We’ve seen the issues performance-enhancing drugs have caused in other sports and we’re going to do everything we can to keep them out of the UFC and Strikeforce.

"Our athletes are already held to the highest testing standards in all sports by athletic commissions. Our new testing policy for performance-enhancing drugs only further shows how important it is to us to have our athletes competing on a level playing field."

Powell's POV: UFC would be wise to add additional a pre-contract screening for head trauma and other wellness issues beyond just testing for performance enhancing drugs. If they have something in place, they'd be wise to feature that information prominently on the company website. That said, this testing is a step in the right direction.

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