UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez (pictured) is in favor of stricter drug testing policies in the UFC. Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.
Add Cain Velasquez to the list of UFC fighters to defend the idea of stricter doping tests within the organization.
Currently, fighters are tested through urine samples, but the heavyweight champion believes that exams should be done through blood tests more frequently, and even by surprise.
“There are rules,” Velasquez said. “We all must follow the same rules.”
The champ shares this opinion with UFC fighters like Junior dos Santos, Georges St-Pierre, Benson Henderson and Daniel Cormier. For them, it’s possible to compete at a high rate without the use of anabolic steroids. For Velasquez, the seriousness in controlling the tests will disallow opponents who use illegal substances from taking advantage of him in a fight.
“I’m a natural athlete,” he said. “All my opponents should be the same way. It is not fair that those (fighters) have an advantage.”
When asked of teammate Lavar Johnson, who was recently cut by the UFC after a drug test showed high levels of testosterone following his UFC 157 fight, the champion did not hesitate.
“I feel good that the tests are being done more often,” he said. “My thought is to be natural, not doped … Those who don’t follow it will be out.”
