The UFC’s relationship with USADA may end in the courts.
UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell on Thursday threatened legal action against USADA following recent statements made by the UFC’s drug-testing partner. In a sharp rebuke of USADA CEO Travis Tygart, Campbell accused the anti-doping program of defamation and demanded that USADA issue a formal apology by Thursday at 5 p.m. PT due to what he described as “disturbing … material misrepresentations” made by Tygart.
In the same press conference, Campbell and UFC executive Jeff Novitzky announced plans for the UFC to partner with Drug Free Sport at the beginning of 2024 to continue its drug-testing and anti-doping program. Former FBI agent George Piro has been selected to led the program as an independent administrator, Campbell and Novitzky announced.
The news followed Tygart’s stunning statement on Wednesday in which the USADA CEO revealed that December 2023 will mark the end of USADA’s partnership with the UFC, and that “the relationship between USADA and UFC became untenable given the statements made by UFC leaders and others questioning USADA’s principled stance that McGregor not be allowed to fight without being in the testing pool for at least six months,” Tygart wrote.
Tygart said the UFC “did an about-face” regarding its relationship with USADA in a Monday phone call, during which UFC executives informed Tygart that the organization will not be renewing its partnership for 2024. Tygart intimated that McGregor’s status was a factor in the decision and told MMA Fighting in a separate interview that while the UFC didn’t ask for an exemption for McGregor, “they for sure didn’t like the statements we made.”
Campbell and Novitzky strongly disagreed with Tygart’s characterizations on Thursday.
“At no point in time did Jeff, myself, or any other UFC representative, Dana [White], not a single person ever went to USADA and told them anything other than Conor McGregor would reenter the program when he was healthy, and in doing so, we would require him to be in the program for six months,” Campbell said. “There would be no exception to the rule.
“And what I said to Travis on multiple occasions, including the call on Monday, was there would never be a situation where Conor would fight until he had been in the program for six months, and my words were, ‘I don’t give a s*** if he has 37 clean tests.’”
“Conor is 100 percent in the pool,” Campbell added. “He made himself available in every way. I can tell you because I personally was a part of that with him. He’s conducted himself with integrity and honesty. He’s done everything right. And he’s, as you can imagine, very upset at the moment for the way that they’ve sort of used him. And they’ve never done that with any other athlete in history, and I think that’s a really important point.”
“I’ll say it one last time, what they’ve done to him is disgusting,” Campbell continued. “And for an entity that holds themselves out to have a level of honor and integrity, using him as a media vehicle to advance a fake narrative is disturbing, disgusting, and I think they have some legitimate legal liability that they should be very concerned with.”
Campbell went on to describe Tygart’s accusations as “a self-preservation tactic” that he believes will “ultimately fail.” He claimed the UFC deal makes up a sizable percentage of USADA’s total revenue and attributed Tygart’s reaction to the partnership ending as the reaction of an individual who knows “he’s going to have the answer to a board and people.”
In a response to MMA Fighting on Thursday following the UFC’s press conference, Tygart wrote simply, “We stand by our statement and our credibility.”
McGregor’s testing status has been a divisive subject over the past year as the former two-division UFC champion prepares for an eventual return to the cage following a leg injury suffered in his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier in July 20211. McGregor removed himself from the USADA drug-testing pool following the injury, and USADA has been unwavering in its stance that McGregor spends six months in pool before being allowed to fight again.
In July, when asked about McGregor’s status with USADA regarding a potential return, White told TSN, “Who cares what USADA says?” The UFC CEO later backtracked and clarified those comments in a heated response over the media’s use of the quote.
Campbell said Thursday that he believes Tygart’s accusations regarding the UFC and McGregor stem from the drug-testing organizations desire to spin a narrative.
“They like being able to be the authority figure that tells you what’s what, and I think Conor has done a more vocal job than most athletes would of getting out there and telling his followers in his community and the people that that follow our sport, what’s going on with him. And I think they hate that,” Campbell said. “I really do.
“The reality is they knew in August, and they knew again on Monday in the phone call, there was never going to be an exception made where Conor was going to fight before he was six months in the program. And like I said, I flew out to LA, Conor and I got together, we had an incredible meeting, and we actually spoke to Travis personally, the three of us — Conor, myself, and Travis — and it was made clear and Conor acknowledged that he would be in the program for six months. And that’s why this is so frustrating.
“I think they use him, to answer your question. They use him the way they have because he has allowed them to get a level of media attention that they can’t get on their own. USADA puts some s*** out, no one cares. You connect Conor to it and all of a sudden it explodes, whether it triggers the algorithms or whatever. And truthfully, that’s why I’m most disappointed about the way that they’ve handled the last 48 hours. They used an athlete as a vehicle to advance a false narrative. I think it’s incredibly unethical. Incredibly.”
The UFC’s relationship with USADA began in 2015 and lasted eight years, during more than 27,000 tests were conducted across the UFC roster.
Despite its messy end, Campbell and Novitzky thanked USADA for its work over over the course of the parternship, which extends until the end of 2023 regardless of Thursday’s developments.
“It’s going to be a complicated relationship for the next few months,” Campbell said.