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UFC President, Dana White, didn’t appreciate United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) reveal regarding its separation from the the promotion.
The partnership between USADA and UFC is unceremoniously coming to an end at the end of 2023, as shared by USADA CEO, Travis Tygart, yesterday (Weds., Oct. 11, 2023). Ultimately, the breaking point was created when UFC continuously tried to get Conor McGregor back in action without undergoing six months of testing, according to Tygart.
White, unsurprisingly, wasn’t too happy with the statement released and claims there’s more that will surface shortly.
“Well, let me just start with this — it wasn’t an announcement,” White said on The Pat McAfee Show (h/t MMA Fighting). “It was a dirty move by them. There was no announcement yesterday. That was straight scumbag-ism what happened yesterday.
“So that will all be addressed today, not by me,” he added. “I’ll let [Jeff] Novitzky and our lawyer Hunter Campbell handle that. The you-know-what is about to hit the fan on that one.”
USADA and UFC worked together for nearly a full decade, working to ensure the cleanliness of the athletes who compete inside the Octagon. When it comes to McGregor, “The Notorious’” big hang-up with making his MMA return has been that he’s been out of the USADA testing pool since 2022. McGregor last fought at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier, suffering a first round technical knockout loss and broken leg in July 2021 (watch highlights).
McGregor has been linked to potentially facing Michael Chandler in his return bout as both coached opposite each other on The Ultimate Fighter 31 (TUF). As for the future of anti-doping in UFC, White says there’s still a possibility they’ll continue with something similar to USADA once the partnership officially ends.
“We would still pay an independent company,” White said. “It’s the best way to do it. We have a standard that we set here, but a lot of people are not happy with USADA.
“Our deal is up at the end of the year and we’re working on going in a different direction, especially after the dirty scumbag move that they pulled yesterday. That will be addressed later,” he continued.
“I don’t deal with that,” White concluded. “When Jeff Novitzky came here, who was the most respected guy in drug testing ever, when he started here, that was the greatest day of my life because it took me out of all this s—t.”