Dec 26 2008
Competitors in the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale Tested Negative for Steroids
The MMA always stands to its reputation of having clean athletes. The recent drug testing conducted earlier this month showed all negative results for steroids. The 12 fighters of the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale who underwent steroid testing were all clean for steroids and other drugs of abuse. The Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer provided the test results last Wednesday.
It is part of the NSAC rules to test fighters for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Other substances included in their drug testing are drugs of abuse such as cocaine, marijuana and heroin. All of the competitors tested negative for both classifications of drugs.
It is customary for the NSAC to tests all main-event fighter including all winning competitors. Fighters who have previously failed drug tests are also required to undergo drug testing.
The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale championship was contested by two teams, Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir. For lightweight, it was Efrain Escudero who was declared as winner while Ryan Bader got the title for light heavyweight. The respective runners-up: Phillipe Nover and Vinny Magalhaes were also tested.
In the undercard matches, the winners are Anthony Johnson, Wilson Gouveia, Junie Browning, Krzysztof Soszynski, Eliot Marshall, Tom Lawlor, Shane Nelson and Roli Delgado. These fighters were also tested and the results were all negative.
The main card is between Efrain Escudero which defeated Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision. Ryan Bader defeated Vinny Magalhaes via TKO in round 1. Anthony Johnson defeated Kevin Burns also via knockout in round 3. Winners via submissions are Wilson Gouveia who defeated Jason MacDonald and Junie Browning who defeated Dave Kaplan.
In the undercard event 3 matches were under submissions. These are between Krzysztof Soszynski who defeated Shane Primm, Eliot Marshall who defeated Jules Bruchez and Roli Delgado defeated John Polakowski. Unanimous decision was also given in favor of Tom Lawlor who defeated Kyle Kingsbury while Shane Nelson defeated George Roop via split decision.
The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale event took place last Dec. 13 at the Palms Casino & Resort in Las Vegas and Spike TV covered the event.
With this result we can conclude that MMA fighters are all concerned with their health and reputation. Most of MMA fans are giving their praises to these players. One comment states that he was certain that none of these fighters were on any drugs or steroids. It would make the sport look bad if they had tested positive for drugs or steriods. Most of these fighters have respect for the sport, so they would not be stupid enough to do that.
The event earned $405 thousand in gate revenues which drew 1,496 paid attendees and it was also estimated that the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale was able to attract more than 1.9 million viewers.
