UFC fighters who’ve previously evaded performance-enhancing drug tests by using untraceable substances won’t rest easy, the promotion’s chief anti-doping advocate said Tuesday.

In an extended interview with “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Jeff Novitzky, the UFC’s vice president of athlete health and performance, said newly developed drug tests could be performed on samples that have been preserved in connection with the promotion’s out-of-competition drug testing program.

So blood and urine that’s been kept frozen in World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratories could be re-tested for new PEDs, which opens the possibility of UFC fighters failing drug tests years after a particular bout.

“Even if there’s a new drug out there that scientists are saying there’s no test for, potentially, a couple of years down the line when there’s a test for it, we’d have the ability to test for that,” Novitzky said. “Now, maybe that athlete’s no longer with the UFC or no longer competing, but there’s legacy and reputation at stake.”

Novitzky’s job includes working with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) as it oversees and out-of-competition drug testing program implemented this past month by the UFC. Samples preserved by USADA are kept in strict accordance with guidelines set by the WADA.

The UFC’s program covers all UFC athletes and events, Novitzky wrote in an email to MMAjunkie, and USADA “can and will” conduct fight-night tests in jurisdictions without athletic commissions.

A pivotal figure in the investigation of Lance Armstrong, Novitzky cited professional cycling as a model for the approach of preserving and re-testing samples in line with new drug-testing technology. On Tuesday, cycling’s governing body announced that Italian rider Giampaolo Caruso was found with erythropoietin (EPO) in his system after a retest of a 2012 sample collected out-of-competition. The test was “reanalysed in light of new scientific developments,” according to a statement from UCI, which stores samples for up to 10 years.

Given the newness of the UFC’s program and current testing methods, it’s primarily the speed of advancement in drug testing methods that will drive new tests and shed further light on PED use in MMA. Novitzky ventured that micro-doses of fast-acting testosterone are being used by fighters today. He cited a new form of testosterone synthesized from yams that can fool a carbon isotope ratio test, which detects synthetic testosterone.

“I believe it’s being used now,” he said.

But he also noted that he has yet to discover the depth of the drug problem in the UFC. An answer, however, could come very soon.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.