Many athletes are jubilant that the UFC will no longer partner with the US Anti-Doping Agency USADA at the end of 2023. Paulo Costa, a middleweight contender, no longer needs to keep his “secret juice” a secret.
According to Travis Tygart, CEO of USADA, who made the announcement yesterday (Wednesday, October 11, 2023), the cooperation between USADA and UFC will abruptly terminate at the end of 2023. According to Tygart, UFC eventually reached a breaking point when they insisted on rushing Conor McGregor back into competition before he had completed six months of testing.
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Since being forced out of his eagerly anticipated matchup with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 on October 21, Costa has been commanding the news. The man known as “The Eraser” disclosed that he had undergone surgery for elbow bursitis. Unfortunately, the virus did not clear up quickly enough, causing the UFC to cancel his much-anticipated comeback.
It will now be a middleweight championship eliminator between Kamaru Usman, a former welterweight world champion, and Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi.
The announcement that the organisation would be severing its connections with USADA effective January 1, 2024, was lost in the chaos of the UFC 294 reorganisation. Fighters’ reactions to the news ranged widely, with Paulo Costa suggesting that the “secret” in his “secret juice” would no longer be kept a secret.
United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) disclosure of its withdrawal from the promotion was not well received by UFC President Dana White. Unsurprisingly, White wasn’t too pleased with the statement that was made public and says more will come to light soon.
To ensure the athletes that compete inside the Octagon are clean, USADA and UFC collaborated for almost ten years. Regarding McGregor, “The Notorious” main concern with making his MMA comeback has been that he hasn’t participated in USADA testing since 2022. In July 2021, McGregor last competed in the UFC, losing to Dustin Poirier by technical knockout in the first round and breaking his leg.
Given that they both coached opponents on The Ultimate Fighter 31 (TUF), McGregor has been mentioned as a potential opponent for Michael Chandler in his comeback fight. After the collaboration officially ends, White says there’s still a chance that the UFC will continue with an anti-doping programme akin to USADA.
