Dana White went off on USADA for their recently released statement.
In July 2021, Conor McGregor lost his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier due to a severe leg injury in round one. Since then, McGregor has overcome a lengthy recovery process to ensure he wouldn’t have to retire from combat sports.
McGregor has been healed and ready to return for the last few months. With that said, he wasn’t a part of the USADA testing pool, which requires six months of clean tests before being approved to fight.
Earlier this week, USADA released a statement claiming that McGregor had officially rejoined the drug-testing program. The exciting news was followed by a shocking message revealing that USADA and the UFC would end their partnership starting on January 1, 2024.
The statement released by CEO Travis Tygart also accused UFC personnel of trying to get an exemption for McGregor to avoid their drug-testing policy.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Dana White responded to Tygart’s accusations by saying:
“Let me just start with this. It wasn’t an announcement [by USADA]. It was a dirty move by them. There was no announcement yesterday. That was straight-up scumbagism what happened yesterday…The you-know-what is about to hit the fan on that one.”
Read the full statement from USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart here: https://t.co/3vfuhx5haD pic.twitter.com/MNGgnDN6U6
— USADA (@usantidoping) October 11, 2023
Dana White confirms the UFC will pay an independent company to randomly drug test fighters
Following USADA’s statement, the MMA community was set on fire while discussing what was next for the UFC anti-doping program. Narratives began spreading about the UFC no longer drug-testing their fighters, which is false.
During the same appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Dana White confirmed the UFC was looking for another independent company to work with:
“We would still pay an independent company. It’s the best way to do it. We have a standard that we’ve set here, but a lot of people are not happy with USADA. Our deal is up at the end of the year. We’re working on going another direction, especially after the dirty scumbag move that they pulled yesterday.”
It was later announced that the UFC would be working with Drug Free Sport, which oversees the MLB, NFL, NBA, and more.
The UFC’s anti-doping program has also hired George Piro as an independent administrator. Piro is a former FBI agent who conducted the interrogation of Saddam Hussein.
Watch Dana White’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show below:
