UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier believes USADA should be given credit for helping the promotion push the sport of mixed martial arts further than it had ever been.
On Wednesday, news broke courtesy of USADA CEO Travis Tygart that the doping agency would be parting ways with the UFC as of January 1, 2024. Since then, fighters and fight fans have been seemingly celebrating the announcement, suggesting that USADA’s witch hunt on athletes will finally be over.
Cormier, an athlete who was well aware of USADA long before his time as a mixed martial artist, disagrees with that statement, suggesting that without USADA, the UFC would still be stuck in the Wild West days where steroids ran rampant, preventing the sport from being legitimized.
“I saw one person on Twitter write, ‘USADA’s witch hunt is over.’ It was not a witch hunt and I think the only people that look at USADA as a witch hunt are people who wanted the sport to not move forward,” Cormier said in a video on YouTube. “Because as long as you were doing steroids, and we had a lot of guys doing steroids back then. As long as that was real big in mixed martial arts, the sport could have never gone to where it went. It needed USADA at the time to legitimize the product.
“Remember, New York would not even sanction MMA. USADA comes along. New York sanctions mixed martial arts. It was not a witch hunt. It was a necessity at the time for the UFC to move mixed martial arts forward.”
"That wasn't an announcement yesterday it was a dirty move by USADA..
That will all be addressed today and the shit is about to hit the fan on that one"@danawhite #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/veFDHjkHv2
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 12, 2023
Daniel Cormier Comments on McGregor’s Role in the Rift Between USADA and the UFC
At the forefront of the split between USADA and the UFC appears to be Irish megastar Conor McGregor. In Tygart’s statement, he claimed that the relationship with the UFC had become “untenable” over USADA’s unwillingness to give the two-division titleholder an exemption allowing him to return to the Octagon before completing six months of pre-fight screening.
“I didn’t really know how stern USADA was until I read that they would not budge,” Cormier added. “And ultimately, by not budging, he is implying that is why the contract negotiations broke down.”
McGregor has since jumped back into the testing pool where he will remain through December 31, but as of January 1, 2024, a new company will take over the promotion’s anti-doping duties.
On Thursday evening, UFC executive vice president and chief business officer Hunter Campbell conducted a press conference, revealing that Drug Free Sport International, the organization that conducts testing for the NCAA, NFL, NBA, and MLB, will begin its partnership with Ultimate Fighting Championship.
BREAKING: The UFC will be partnering with Drug Free Sport International in the future
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 12, 2023
How that affects fighters currently in the USADA testing pool or awaiting approval to compete, like McGregor, remains to be seen.
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