Continuing a commitment to the health and safety of its athletes, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced today that all potential UFC and STRIKEFORCE signees will be subject to a mandatory pre-contract screening for performance-enhancing drugs. Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, all incoming athletes will be tested prior to finalizing a contract with the world's premier mixed martial arts organization.

UFC and STRIKEFORCE already work closely with the most prestigious regulators and athletic commissions to ensure the health and safety of athletes prior to competition. This includes contestants on The Ultimate Fighter, all of whom are pre-screened for performance-enhancing drugs prior to participating on the longest-running sports reality show on television.

All current UFC and STRIKEFORCE athletes will continue to be screened for performance-enhancing drugs, both prior to competition and at random, in accordance with athletic commission rules and regulations.

"We're committed to the health and safety of our athletes and we take it very seriously," UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said. "We already work closely with athletic commissions to protect our athletes and now we're taking it one step further. We're going to test any potential UFC or STRIKEFORCE fighter before finalizing their contract. This shows that we don't want performance-enhancing drugs in our sport."

This pre-contract screening policy further cements the organization's dedication to the well-being of its athletes. In May, the organization announced that nearly 350 UFC and STRIKEFORCE independent contractor athletes would be eligible for customized accident insurance coverage, an unprecedented policy that covers accidental injuries suffered by athletes while training, as well as non-training incidents such as automobile accidents.

"The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority," UFC President Dana White said. "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."

Some would say he taught us that "fake" wrestlers don't belong in UFC, an ignorant sentiment that I'm not even going to dignify with a rebuttal.

Others would say that he taught us how dangerous it is to play a high-stakes game against long odds, just as Lesnar did by coming back twice after serious illness.

In both cases, I would strenuously beg to differ, and invite you to look back on Lesnar's athletic career for the message that it genuinely contains.

Lesnar could have easily rested on his laurels after winning the NCAA Division 1 freestyle wrestling championship in 2000, a monumental accomplishment all on its own. Instead, he entered the completely-foreign world of professional wrestling, and because of taking that chance he earned international fame and millions of dollars.

He could have also stopped there, but when the bloom was off the wrestling rose and Lesnar found himself wanting more, he refused to stay with what was comfortable and got out. Not caring that his decision would be second-guessed by millions, Lesnar turned his yard-wide back on a stable, lucrative career to chase his dream of competing in the NFL.

With no prior football experience to speak of it was an improbable goal at best (although not impossible--just ask Stephen Neal), but Lesnar took his shot and damn near made it despite dealing with serious injuries from a motorcycle accident. Some would say that his not making the final cut proves that he screwed up in leaving WWE. They'd be wrong. As anyone who has done it will tell you, it is FAR better to try and fail than to spend the rest of your life not knowing.

From there, Lesnar set his sights on MMA, and after stomping Min-Soo Kim in his professional debut, he was given the toughest welcome to the UFC of any fighter since John Alessio when he was matched with former champ Frank Mir. Lesnar lost by submission but looked like a monster in doing so, and only six months later returned to destroy Heath Herring, a world-class heavyweight with 41 prior bouts to his credit. A scant three months later, Lesnar unbelievably knocked out all-time legend Randy Couture to become the UFC heavyweight champion in only his fourth MMA fight.

And then, just as Lesnar was hitting his peak in unprecedented time, came the beginning of the end.

Most people know the story from here--Lesnar's annihilation of Mir at UFC 100 followed by a near-fatal attack of diverticulitis. Victory in his comeback against Shane Carwin, only to have the disease continue to drain him. Then the loss of his title to Cain Velasquez, the loss of a 12-inch-long section of his intestine, and the loss of his career to Alistair Overeem. The end.

A sad story, perhaps, but one that would be much sadder if Lesnar had waited, stalled, or doubted himself. A lack of action during the time that he was given before the onset of his disease would have meant that all he'd have today would be bitter regret. But because he acted when he did and with full commitment, he can at least temper the disappointment of a career cut short by looking back at a long list of accomplishments that will never be duplicated.

And therein lies the lesson: that the clock is ticking on all of us, and none of us really knows how much time we have left to act. Waste time second-guessing yourself and opportunities will be lost, perhaps forever. But take your shot NOW in spite of what you're told, and who knows where you might end up?

So thank you, Brock Lesnar, for leaving the sport of MMA in much better shape than you found it, and for showing us how much can be attained by refusing to waste time on self-doubt, or to believe nay-sayers who'll never have the guts to shoot for the stars themselves.

I respect Jon Fitch greatly, but he is DEAD WRONG about that. MMA already IS pro wrestling, minus the predetermined outcomes of course, and while fighting ability is definitely very important, any fighter who fails to observe the rules of effective self-promotion is going to get left by the wayside.

Perhaps Fitch should consider one thing: Not too long ago there was a UFC fighter who in spite of his killer (yet largely unspectacular) wrestling skills was mired in the mid-card; a "who cares" fighter with little, if any, name recognition.

That fighter's name was Chael Sonnen, and without changing his fighting style one iota, he used pro wrestling promotional tactics to produce a series of interviews that transformed him into one of the sport's biggest draws.

Using the "sell the sizzle, not the steak" analogy, Jon Fitch is Chael Sonnen without the sizzle, and unless he finds a way to capture the interest of ticket buyers, he's never going to get the fan attention that he so richly deserves.

I've reached out to Bas Rutten who's currently checking to see how much validity there is to this rumour, and I will post follow-up information as it becomes available.

"The urine sample that Alistair Overeem took on 12/14 in the U.K. came back today negative for all prohibited substances.

The urine sample submitted by Overeem on 12/7 to his doctor in Holland and sent to a German lab was returned to the doctor with no testing done of its contents. Overeem's doctor then disposed of its contents and sent a letter to UFC saying that since it wasn't tested, and it had been more than 24 hours, the sample would be worth nothing and it was disposed of. The sample was returned to his doctor untested on 12/12 and his doctor disposed of the sample on 12/13."

The interview will air on TSN this Friday at 2 PM PST/5 PM EST. If you missed the first interview, it can be found HERE.

During a subsequent conversation with foundation founder Gerry Gionco, I was told that money had indeed been donated by Bisla. At present, no figures have been given with regards to the amount.

That begs the question: why would Inderjit Bisla tell me that his show's charitable affiliation was none of my business when money was actually donated to a known charity? Am I to wonder whether or not there was a discrepancy between the amount that was collected at Bisla's event and the amount that was given to Gerry Gionco? Were those amounts even monitored?

Further information will be posted on this site as it becomes available.

The Adam Dykes story can be found HERE and the Bisla Fight Night story is HERE.

"Boxing BC Association is the recognized governing body for amateur boxing [in] British Columbia. Our records do not show any sanction application for any event called "Bisla Fight Night 2". Boxing BC Association did not have any involvement with this event in any matter."

Both men had their heydays during the 1970s, when Alekseyev stood alone as the strongest weightlifter on the planet, as dominant in his sport as a prime Mike Tyson was in boxing. And was a man who Lyle defied the odds, coming into the sport of boxing relatively late in life while serving a lengthy prison sentence and still distinguished himself against names like Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers and Muhummad Ali. In almost any other era, he would have been a world champion almost for sure.

Both men were childhood heroes of mine, and my admiration of Alekseyev was a primary reason that I competed in strength sports later in life.

Look HERE to watch the legendary Russian achieving immortality in 1972, and HERE to watch Lyle and George Foreman in an INSANE fight that analyst Wally Matthews called "...one of the greatest episodes of pure violence in the history of boxing".

RICHARDS: i dont think its fair to attack Indy like this and try to discredit him or call him out when the people who should be spoken of should be the city. Paul and Indy both wanted to put on events and Paul was told no by the city not by Indy. So what if Indy went ahead with the show as planned, it was a good turn out, and was ran really well. Members from the rcmp were even there watching and enjoyed them selves. I understand why Paul is upset about being told no, but no need to go nuts on a guy who went on with his event. the city is to blame. I wish Paul would have went on with his event as well so we could have another great show to see. We want as much as we can get around here, its canada the mma mecca!! I hope u guys can resolve this beef and both continue to put on great events for us to watch. Best of luck to both of u and fuck the city and they red tape. let the fighters fight!

LAZENBY: I agree that there's too much red tape, Cecil, but regardless of how well-run Indy's event might have been, it was in clear violation of the law. It's especially galling that you say that the RCMP "were even there watching and enjoyed themselves" when they were notified more than 24 hours in advance about the show's illegality. Plus, Indy's doing himself no favours by claiming a charitable affiliation but openly refusing to disclose the cause for which he was raising money and the name of the individual who he gave the money to. It's looking like Surrey City Hall, Indy and the RCMP all have much to answer for.