• UFC 117

White insists he can do no more to stop drug cheats

Dana White has spent millions attempting to educate fighters about the dangers of using drugs © UFC

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Dana White insists the UFC is spending 'millions of dollars' to keep drugs out of the sport following news that Chael Sonnen failed a test after UFC 117.

Sonnen has been notified of his failed sample by the California State Athletic Commission, and is yet to issue a statement on the matter. If found guilty, he would face a suspension from MMA in line with the year-long punishments handed to the likes of Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca in the past (Sherk's was reduced upon appeal).

The news poses a potentially major setback to the UFC, after Sonnen created some of the biggest headlines of the year when he battered Anderson Silva before losing on August 7. The pair are currently set for a hugely anticipated rematch in the new year.

White is primarily concerned with the reputation of the sport though, and he insists he can do no more than he already has to clear the sport of cheats, insisting any extra fines would only come on top of those already handed out by MMA's governing bodies.

"What else do I do? We've spent millions of dollars - literally, millions of dollars - to try to get this thing regulated so they can be tested by the government," White told Yahoo Sports.

"Do you know how much it costs us to put on that fighter seminar [in Las Vegas] every year? Let me tell you, we're bringing guys in from all over the world. We have guys from England, Germany, Croatia, Australia, Korea. We have 350 guys under contract and they're coming from all over the world. It costs us a ******* ton, but we do it because it's important.

"When one of them fails a test, the government is going to fine them and suspend them and tell them they can't make a living for a year.

"So should I come in after they've already lost the ability to make a living for a year and been fined all this money and, in the worst economic disaster in the history of the world, fine them another huge amount and take away their ability to make a living even longer?"

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.