Quick quote: "We were going to have Overeem tested anyway because of the condition from his 2011 license, but it got to the point where I found out [about the press conference]. So that was the first thing, when I found out, “Oh, there’s going to be a press conference. Oh, Overeem’s going to be there."
Full story under the cut
You can read whole interview here. Below I have a summary.
Sherdog.com: How is the Nevada Athletic Commission funded?
Kizer: We’re funded from the general fund. The state itself gives us money from the general fund in our budget for every fiscal year.
Sherdog.com: What’s the budget roughly every year?
Kizer: Probably about $600,000 to $700,000, somewhere around there, give or take $50K.
Sherdog.com: How much are different commission personnel paid?
Kizer: Inspectors, unfortunately, are by far the lowest-paid. They get paid $75 an event... It’s almost like a hobby, a labor of love for them. And with the judges, referees and timekeepers … we have our smaller shows, and they get about $200, $250 for smaller shows. Now, for the bigger shows in MMA, a pay-per-view of a UFC caliber, all the refs would get $1,200 and judges I believe get $950 and timekeepers about $600... In boxing, the pay structure’s a little different. It’s a little more widespread, where the ref at the top of the card might make $8,000, while the refs on the bottom of the card are only making $600, say for a [Floyd] Mayweather [Jr.] card. So there’s a bigger gap there, disparity, as opposed to UFC, where everybody’s making $1,200.
Sherdog.com: Take us through a typical drug testing routine on a fight weekend.
Kizer: The day of the fight, that’s when the drug testing usually is done, though we do, of course, do out-of-competition testing, as well. But in that situation, what would happen is the inspectors or a representative from the lab that acts as our agent will come to the athlete [and conduct] the pre-fight test when they get there at the arena that night. And usually fighters get there about anywhere from 90 minutes to maybe three hours before their fight, depending when they’re fighting on the card and when they’re there. But they’re usually there no later than 90 minutes before their fight. They’ll get there, and then, if they have a urine test they have to provide, they’ll provide it at that time to either the inspector or the drug testing collector. We try to do that as soon as they can, so not only can we check it off our list but also the fighter can then get ready for his fight. There will actually be two post-fight exams. The doctor will then decide in the dressing room whether or not to give the fighter any type of medical suspension or medical requirement. The fighter gets paid and then also the fighter has to do a post-fight drug test. We try to get that done as soon as they’re ready to urinate and can get done with that test so they can go shower and get ready for the press conference.
Sherdog.com: I understand the state recently upped your budget to pay for out-of-competition drug tests?
Kizer: Yes, we did, just with this fiscal year, in fact. Last fiscal year we basically had nothing. It was definitely nothing I wanted to broadcast out there to let the athletes know that, but now our legislature was very kind and understood the concern and was able to fund it, not just this fiscal year but next fiscal year, as well.
Sherdog.com: Alistair Overeem was given a surprise, out-of-competition test on March 27 at the UFC press conference. Why did the commission do that?
Kizer:... We were going to have Overeem tested anyway because of the condition from his 2011 license, but it got to the point where I found out [about the press conference]. So that was the first thing, when I found out, “Oh, there’s going to be a press conference. Oh, Overeem’s going to be there. Oh, good, I can actually send ... instead of relying on him going to a lab and giving the urine sample, I can send the lab to him. Makes it easier on him, and it makes it easier on me.” But, then, it kind of begged the question to myself of, “Well, if he’s going to be there and there are five other guys there, why not have him do the other five?” So I let the chairman know that -- that that was my plan. He said that’s a great plan, go forward with it; and we got it done.
Sherdog.com: Overeem missed commission-imposed deadlines for his December drug test, yet he was granted a conditional license to face Brock Lesnar. Why wasn’t he simply denied a license?
Kizer: ... Of course, we did the normal [tests on fight night], but there was also two tests he needed to do within the six months after the fight. This one [at the press conference] was the first, so there’s still one pending, if it’s even necessary.
Sherdog.com: Overeem has, since the drug test, applied for a fight license in Nevada, correct? Or, the UFC applied on his behalf?
Kizer: Yes. The UFC usually collects all the materials for their fighters and then ships them to us.
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