In a recent interview with J RingTheBelleMMA, William Tackett shared his thoughts on the UFC’s plans to introduce PED testing in competitive jiu-jitsu.
When asked about the UFC implementing testing for BJJ, Tackett said he believes the move will ultimately benefit the sport, though he acknowledged that it won’t come without costs.
“I think it will be really good,” he said. “It’s for sure going to take a little bit… the UFC will take a little bit of a hit financially initially because it is expensive to run d*ug testing.”
Tackett explained that the high cost of testing is one of the main reasons many grappling organizations have struggled to implement comprehensive anti-d*ping programs.
“I think that’s why we haven’t seen it in a lot of the other organizations in the past,” he said.
As an example, he pointed to the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s current testing practices.
“Even the IBJJF, which is kind of like the federation that tests the most out of all the organizations, they only test like event day, one person in the division maybe, or even less than that,” Tackett said. “Maybe only like three or four of the champions out of all the divisions get tested.”
Because of those expenses, even the largest organizations have limitations, he added.
“So it’s expensive. Even one of the biggest organizations like the IBJJF doesn’t test very routinely or frequently because of that reason.”
Where Tackett sees a major difference is in the UFC’s financial resources and experience running anti-doping programs in MMA.
“The UFC having the bigger budget behind it, I think can really make it more effective,” he said, “with potentially even doing the randomized d**g testing and maybe testing more than just the winners.”
Because of that, he’s optimistic about the promotion’s ability to make a real impact.
“I think it’s going to be really good,” Tackett said. “The UFC has the capability to do that and they’ve already done it with the sport of MMA. So being able to just transfer their recipe that they know works over to jiu-jitsu, I think will be good.”
When the conversation shifted to how quickly fans should expect results, Tackett cautioned against expecting immediate change.
“I don’t think it’s going to be like a quick fix,” he said.
According to Tackett, discussions with people involved in the testing process suggest the cleanup effort will take time.
“Even after talking with some of the head d**g test people, they think it’s going to take a few years to really clean out all of the divisions,” he said. “But that’s totally fine.”
Rather than focusing on how quickly progress happens, Tackett believes the important thing is that the sport continues moving in the right direction.
“I think that everyone expects quick changes, but as long as we get there eventually and are working in the right direction, and I know the UFC is wanting to do that, so it’s exciting for us athletes.”
