FILA, the international wrestling governing body, announced that they will start conducting drug testing for international competitions in Grappling and Pankration.
The system of drug testing, conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency, will include both at competition and out-of-competition drug testing for a random pool of 17 randomly selected athletes in both sports.
Several professional fighters have competed in the Grappling and Pankration World Championships. Bellator champions Zach Makovsky and Ben Askren have both claimed Grappling world titles. The list of other world medalists includes Mario Rinaldi, Jessica Aguilar, Jacob Volkmann, Nick Ring, Cole Miller and Din Thomas. On Pankration side, Sotaro Yamada and former TPF champion Ulysses Gomez are both world champions.
Both styles are promoted by FILA. The U.S. has won the No-Gi Grappling World Championships two years in a row. The implementation of Olympic style drug testing is seen as a major step forward in the profile of these sports.