GLORY Kickboxing has recently announced that it will further its efforts in anti-doping in combat sports. GLORY will test all of their athletes anywhere in the world, regardless of where they train, in or out of competition.
The drug testing GLORY Kickboxing will be doing will be with the organization International Testing Agency (ITA) and will follow the code and standard set out by the World-Anti Doping Agency (WADA).
With the anti-doping initiatives, GLORY and the ITA will test all of their athletes in or out of competition. Athletes will then be punished for violations and will have wins overturned. This happened in 2022 in the high-profile matchup between Badr Hari and Alistair Overeem. Originally, this was a unanimous decision win for Overeem, but after testing positive for a banned substance it was overturned to a no contest.
The precise rules for GLORY’s anti-doping measures are outlined here. The list of banned substances can be found here. And a list of athletes who have been tested can be found here. The biggest name in GLORY Kickboxing, their heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven has been tested once thus far, along with a series of other athletes. The most tested fighter is the interim heavyweight titleholder “Cookie” Tariq Osaro, with three.
These new measures were announced in a press release from GLORY Kickboxing:
GLORY Announces New Anti-Doping Initiatives
GLORY announces several new initiatives to enhance its anti-doping program and further protect the health and safety of its athletes, ensuring fair competition. In addition to in-competition testing, which has been in effect for years at every GLORY event, GLORY has begun the first phase of its no-notice, out-of-competition testing program, which will continue to be developed over time. GLORY’s program is already one of the leading anti-doping programs in combat sports worldwide. With the enhancements below, GLORY further demonstrates its place amongst the world leaders in anti-doping efforts in combat sports.
GLORY has retained Nadia Silk, an anti-doping lawyer and world-renowned industry expert, to oversee the development and execution of the program. She will serve as the Senior Vice President of Athlete Safety and Regulatory Affairs.
“I am delighted to announce the expansion of our anti-doping program and the hiring of Nadia Silk to ensure that all fighters are safe and compete on a level playing field,” said GLORY co-founder and executive Vice Chairman Scott Rudmann. “Nadia Silk comes to GLORY from her previous role at USADA where she developed and oversaw the anti-doping program of the UFC. She brings to GLORY a deep technical knowledge of the subject, real-world practical experience in the operations of advanced anti-doping programs, and vast experience in interacting with anti-doping organizations in jurisdictions around the globe. She is undoubtedly one of the top experts in anti-doping in combat sports in the world today. Having her on board with GLORY, in addition to enhancing our anti-doping program, moves us further along in our mission to protect the integrity of combat sports and solidifies our position as a world leader in the space.”
GLORY’s doping control has been and will continue to be conducted by the International Testing Agency (commonly known as the ITA), a globally respected independent organization who facilitates GLORY’s sample collections around the world, regardless of where GLORY holds events or athletes live and train. All testing and sample collection is conducted in conformance with the World-Anti Doping Agency’s (“WADA”) International Standard for Testing & Investigations and samples will continue to be analyzed at WADA accredited laboratories. GLORY will continue to cooperate and collaborate with applicable regulators who have jurisdiction over its athletes.
GLORY will soon announce further updates to its anti-doping rules, which are modeled on the World Anti-Doping Code (“Code”). GLORY’s anti-doping rules incorporate the WADA Prohibited List that sets out all banned substances and is updated annually by WADA to stay current. GLORY’s existing rules will be further customized to better fit the realities of combat sports, a practice used by many other global sports leagues for their respective anti-doping programs. For instance, the Code, originally designed for the Olympic movement with four-year competition cycles, has default sanctions of two and four years for doping violations. However, sanction lengths under the GLORY rules default at one and two years depending on the violation.
Amongst the unique provisions of the new ruleset is the ability for GLORY to overturn a win to a loss for fighters who are found to have violated the anti-doping rules in connection with a fight. Not only does this further deter doping, it also provides recourse and a benefit to the professional record and eligibility to collect a win bonus for an athlete who loses versus another competitor who was doping. GLORY also has the authority to impose substantial financial penalties, such as a forfeiture of their entire fight purse and fines.
Additionally, to further enhance the transparency of the program, a panel comprised of independent anti-doping experts will oversee results management and adjudication of violations. GLORY will publicly announce all anti-doping sanctions and maintain a public database of each athlete’s testing history. Information can be found here: https://glorykickboxing.com/anti-doping-program.