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UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky told MMA Fighting on Wednesday at the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) Conference that USADA will test around 700 fighters in the third quarter of 2016. That's up from 450 to 550 tests per quarter previously and 150 to 250 tests per quarter last year, he said.
"We're very happy with where the program is, considering we started from scratch," said Novitzky, who gave a presentation on anti-doping and weight management at the ABC Conference. "I'm amazed the progress that we've had getting this off the ground. This will be the first quarter — the third quarter of 2016 — where we have a fully implemented program."
Though Jones being pulled from an historical event shows the UFC's commitment to its anti-doping program, which began in July 2015, Novitzky said he would prefer if situations like that did not happen. That being said, it does set the tone for the rest of the program.
"Let me be clear: Just because this is my program, those days and those occurrences are challenging," he said. "I never want to see that happen. I don't take any pleasure that the program is working, seeing that happen. Sometimes one or two of those needs to happen for everybody to open their eyes. If anybody had any reservations about the seriousness, about the independence of the program, that it doesn't matter if you're the first on the depth chart of the roster or the last you're going to be treated the same under this program."
(http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/8/3...s-begun-ramping-up-ufc-drug-testing-even-more)
The USADA Era. The Program.
"We're very happy with where the program is, considering we started from scratch," said Novitzky, who gave a presentation on anti-doping and weight management at the ABC Conference. "I'm amazed the progress that we've had getting this off the ground. This will be the first quarter — the third quarter of 2016 — where we have a fully implemented program."
Though Jones being pulled from an historical event shows the UFC's commitment to its anti-doping program, which began in July 2015, Novitzky said he would prefer if situations like that did not happen. That being said, it does set the tone for the rest of the program.
"Let me be clear: Just because this is my program, those days and those occurrences are challenging," he said. "I never want to see that happen. I don't take any pleasure that the program is working, seeing that happen. Sometimes one or two of those needs to happen for everybody to open their eyes. If anybody had any reservations about the seriousness, about the independence of the program, that it doesn't matter if you're the first on the depth chart of the roster or the last you're going to be treated the same under this program."
(http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/8/3...s-begun-ramping-up-ufc-drug-testing-even-more)
The USADA Era. The Program.
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