Dana White did not mince words when he addressed the UFC’s upcoming split with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
On Wednesday, USADA released a lengthy statement attributed to CEO Travis Tygart confirming that UFC superstar Conor McGregor was officially back in the testing pool to clear the way for his return to action. In the same press release, Tygart also announced that USADA will no longer partner with the UFC when their deal ends in December, stating that the relationship became “untenable” largely due to the ordeal surrounding McGregor and the six months of drug testing required before he would be allowed to compete again.
A day later, UFC CEO White addressed USADA’s statement in a fiery appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“Well, let me just start with this — it wasn’t an announcement,” White said. “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. 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.”
“We would still pay an independent company to do the testing because it’s the best way to do it..
Our deal is up at the end of the year and a lot of people aren’t happy with USADA”@danawhite #PMSLive https://t.co/hDom2WAOGn pic.twitter.com/aemNhOVYWq
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 12, 2023
Novitzky, who serves as the UFC vice president of athlete health and performance, oversees the company’s anti-doping program that initially partnered with USADA back in 2015. As of yet, neither Novitzky nor the UFC have released any official statement regarding the split with USADA.
UFC officials are expected to speak with the media on the matter Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas. White promised the promotion will respond to Tygart’s statement. He also revealed plans to partner with a new company that will handle the UFC’s anti-doping program.
“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.”
White said he’s staying hands off when it comes to the situation with USADA. He’s allowing Novitzky to address claims made by the non-profit organization, which just recently inked a deal to handle drug testing at PFL.
“I don’t deal with that,” White said. “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***.”
As far as McGregor’s future, he will still be drug tested by USADA until the end of 2023 but it remains unclear if he will need to undergo six months of testing before he’s cleared to compete again.
McGregor initially dropped out of the UFC’s anti-doping program after he suffered a broken leg in his last outing against Dustin Poirier in July 2021. As he prepared for his eventual return to action, McGregor teased plans to get back into the drug testing pool required for all fighters, but the actual paperwork wasn’t filed and completed until October.
Right now, White can’t speculate exactly when McGregor will return for his expected showdown against Michael Chandler, although early 2023 sounds like the targeted timeline.
“We have the Super Bowl coming up, we have UFC 300 coming up, and yes, Conor too, coming back into the mix,” White said. “Hopefully next year we’ll see how that thing plays out.”