Out-of-competition testing for Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice brings unanswered questions

Ken Skamrock and Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson

This past month, Missouri’s state athletic commission notified Bellator MMA that Ken Shamrock and Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson need to pass additional drug tests in order to be licensed for their headliner at Bellator 138.

Exactly what those additional drug tests entail is not entirely clear. Questions posed to Bellator and the overseeing commission about the process left questions about the anti-doping measures being taken.

This past Monday, MMAjunkie reached out via email to Tim Lueckenhoff, who heads the Missouri Office of Athletics as well as the Association of Boxing Commissions. Lueckenhoff was asked whether Shamrock (28-15-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and Slice (4-2, 0-0 BMMA) had submitted to additional medical testing – as he previously indicated would be required for the aging fighters – and the commission’s plans for drug testing in connection with the event.

In response, Lueckenhoff wrote: “(A) request have (sic) been sent to the promoter for testing and drug testing to be completed prior to the fight. If those guidelines are not met the fight will not be approved. We do not plan to disclose the types of exams, but you can certainly ask the fighters or the promoter.”

A follow-up email asked Lueckenhoff whether the process of out-of-competition testing was being overseen by the commission or by the promoter, which his initial response left unclear. Lueckenhoff refused to answer.

“Both fighters will be required to do additional medical testing which will also include drugs of abuse and steroid testing,” he wrote. “The specifics of those tests will not be released at this time.”

MMAjunkie then reached out to Bellator President Scott Coker. He said the testing would be handled “like every other (out-of-competition) testing that’s being done (by the California State Athletic Commission).”

In recent months, the CSAC has regularly tested Bellator fighters out-of-competition for events held in the state. In fact, four fighters failed out-of-competition tests this past October in connection with Bellator 127, which took place in Temecula, Calif.

Initially, Coker indicated the drug tests for Bellator 138, which takes place June 19 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, will be included as part of a standard battery of pre-fight medical paperwork fighters submit in order to be licensed to fight. It was Bellator’s job, he said, to make sure the fighters completed all their paperwork.

“We have a sheet sent to us, which we forward to the fighters, and the fighters are getting their tests done and sending the results to the Missouri athletic commission,” he added.

Coker’s statements, however, were at odds with the usual procedures employed in out-of-competition testing, which require a fighter to show up within 24 hours of notification to a testing facility, or alternatively, subject them to tests at any time and place via commission-hired collectors.

Allowing fighters the ability to control the timing of a drug test by submitting them as part of pre-fight medical paperwork would appear to undermine the intention of out-of-competition testing.

Pressed on the discrepancy, Coker said the initial tests for Bellator 138 – specifically for Shamrock and Slice – are “just the start.”

“And then, you watch, there will be a test, and then another test,” he continued. “One of those tests will be, ‘You need to show up at this lab in the next 24 hours.’ So that’s what my understanding would be, because they asked us for where does everybody live, and usually, when they ask you where does everybody live, they’re identifying the labs around their area. I think this is being regulated a lot more than you think.”

Shamrock, 51, previously tested positive for a trio of illegal steroids – norandrosterone, noretiocholanolone and stanozolol – following a 2009 bout in California. In 2014, he admitted to using steroids during his career, though he added he “never entered into the ring while using steroids.” Slice, meanwhile, has never publicly failed a drug test.

As of Monday, Slice’s manager said he hadn’t heard from Bellator or the commission about the request for additional testing, but welcomed the idea.

“Whatever the commission tells us to do, we’ll do it,” Mike Imber, Ferguson’s longtime manager, on Monday told MMAjunkie. An email requesting an interview with Shamrock’s rep wasn’t immediately returned.

Coker praised the California, Mohegan and Missouri commissions for increasing their drug testing efforts and said out-of-competition testing gives Bellator the chance to save the event if a fighters pops positive.

“I want to get the results back as fast as we can, because if there is a problem with any of these athletes, as a promoter, we have a fight to put on,” he said. “We need to replace them. So to get out in front of these tests like the commission is doing now, it’s actually helpful to us, because you know way in advance if there’s going to be an issue. And based on some of the results that have come out by some of the biggest stars in our sport, it’s better to be out in front of it than to have to react a couple days before the fight or the week of the fight. I’d rather know now than later.”

According to Lueckenhoff, any potential positive tests will be made public after the Missouri commission files a disciplinary complaint with the state’s administrative hearing committee. Until that point, the commission will keep quiet about its approach.

“The testing procedures will not be played out in the media,” Lueckenhoff wrote. “If the fighter or promoter wants to disclose the information, they may do so.”

For more on Bellator 138, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.