Who do you believe UFC or USADA?

[Clark Rogers]

I think if you fully believe what either are saying publicly you're probably on the wrong track.

They're both slinging shit with a purpose.

Also please stop with "USADA is non profit they don't care about money" - they don't exist without money, they very much care about money and they're losing a ton (~7mil annual, I've seen) with UFC leaving. That isn't to say I believe UFC, just pointing out that American non-profits have been known to be shady lol, and the term itself is a semi-misnomer.

 

[Yellowcrab]

Anyone who actually watched the conference with Hunter and Jeff would side with the UFC if they actually listened to the incompetence of USADA over the last few years.
Testing will still be the same, just making improvements.

You're the very proof that shills aren't a legend in this forum to say such nonsense.

 

[chinarice]

Probably one of the only times I'd believe USADA.

Neither are honest though

 

[Jake the Muss]

If the UFC is doing all of these backflips for Jon and Conor, is it possible they would do whatever is necessary to get their favorites to win?

If someone does manage to beat their starlets, they truly are the best in the world, because they are competing against the fighter and a corrupt multi-billion organization.

No matter how this plays out, UFC is no longer credible in combat sports.

 

[JBJ was here]

UFC EVP and CBO Hunter Campbell: “At no point in time did Jeff, myself, or any other UFC representative, Dana – not a single person ever went to USADA and told them anything other than Conor McGregor would re-enter the program when he was healthy. In doing so, we would require him to be in the program for six months. There would be no exception to the rule." https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023...regor-advance-false-narrative-demands-apology

Um, Dana is on public record telling the six month rule to go fuck itself for McGregor. Additionally, UFC statements have all been carefully crafted to avoid directly saying the USADA is lying, using terms like "dirtbag move," "false narrative," etc. or saying that the USADA statements "couldn't be farther from the truth" about why the UFC is contracting with a new testing provider when the USADA statements were about USADA's belief that the relationship with the UFC was broken, not about why the UFC did what it did. It's very clear that the UFC is lying here and that they are avoiding saying that USADA is lying, which tells you all you need to know.

 

[Lepo Lepo]

UFC: We want to use special exemption (which is most likely built into contract) for Connor to fight in December.
USADA: No that’s unfair
UFC: Follow the contract or we’ll look for a new organization to work with
USADA: No
UFC: Decides not to renew contract
USADA: Cries on social media.

 

[krelianx]

Side with USADA over what?

Conor is in USADA's own testing pool right now, able to be tested 24/7 like any other fighter. None of you conspiracy theorists have any explanation for this inconvenient fact. The mental gymnastics you have to do to say Conor/UFC is avoiding testing while he's in the testing pool is gravity defying. If he's not being tested it's literally USADA's fault.

USADA threw a hissy fit upon being told their contract wasn't being renewed. They put out inflammatory statements hoping to get these exact reactions and pressure on the UFC/their competitors even though the accusation makes zero sense. That's it.

The point is that the UFC are dropping USADA because Conor wasn't granted an exemption. Allegedly, they were trying to get Conor to fight in December even without the exemption.

When Dana was asked about Conor fighting in December in a presser a month or so ago he said affirming that the plan was to get him on the December card "who cares what USADA thinks?" This strongly indicates there was a tussle with regard to Conor, and that they wanted indeed to put him on the card.

We know Conor submitted his papers now, within the last few days. But the claim USADA is making is that the UFC wanted an exemption and was pissed they wouldn't grant it. Conor isn't fighting in December. And for all we know, he could fail all the tests from now on, since they have ceased from making those public.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

Your logic makes zero sense. How is their statement totally reasonable if the UFC didn't get what they wanted? That means USADA did.

Because the UFC was asking USADA to break the rules BOTH PARTIES AGREED TO, and USADA said no.

Having integrity doesn't make sense these days?

Ffs

 

[Clark Rogers]

since they have ceased from making those public.

This isn't how it works.

 

[krelianx]

This isn't how it works.

How does it work? I might be wrong.

 

[markg171]

You just have to read : “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.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/12/sport/usada-ufc-conor-mcgregor-spt-intl/index.html

They simply gave the real reason of their disagreement and that's their right. USADA is a non profit organization, they don't care about money.

UFC chose to become a circus show, end of the story.

The point is that the UFC are dropping USADA because Conor wasn't granted an exemption. Allegedly, they were trying to get Conor to fight in December even without the exemption.

When Dana was asked about Conor fighting in December in a presser a month or so ago he said affirming that the plan was to get him on the December card "who cares what USADA thinks?" This strongly indicates there was a tussle with regard to Conor, and that they wanted indeed to put him on the card.

We know Conor submitted his papers now, within the last few days. But the claim USADA is making is that the UFC wanted an exemption and was pissed they wouldn't grant it. Conor isn't fighting in December. And for all we know, he could fail all the tests from now on, since they have ceased from making those public.

All of this is completely irrelevant considering Conor didn't get an exemption, is in the pool, and isn't getting an exemption and must remain in the next pool for another 4 months under the successor program too. Literally nothing has changed except which company gets to collect the urine and blood.

It's a hissy fit by USADA. Everything they wanted is happening EXCEPT their contract renewal. It's pretty easy to see what they're actually mad about, and why they haven't issued a second statement retracting the first and wishing the UFC well now that their concerns were addressed.

They're the bitter ex. That's it.

 

[wwkirk]

USADA. Makes sense given the history. UFC wants an exemption for Brock so they can surprise everyone with a Brock PPV ... then Brock fails test for PEDs. UFC comes to USADA and wants an exemption for Conor, even though he's been out of the testing pool for a long time and showing pics constantly of his hot dog skin tone with 15 pounds of raw mass added during his 'recovery' from a fucking broken bone ... and so USADA is like fuck that, you embarrassed us and impacted our credibility last time, he needs to be in the pool for 6 months and pass 2 tests.

UFC throws a fit, so now they are going to find a testing agency that will be 100% complicit in their shady bullshit instead of just 90%.

Very plausible scenario.

 

[markg171]

Because the UFC was asking USADA to break the rules BOTH PARTIES AGREED TO, and USADA said no.

Having integrity doesn't make sense these days?

Ffs

And then the UFC played ball and Conor entered the pool and will remain in it for 6 months before being able to compete in April.

So in what way is the UFC avoiding testing? All they did was change collection agencies and USADA threw a hissy fit for losing that contract.

 

[Quietus]

There is no “UFC or USADA”—UFC IS USADA, it’s not a 3rd party independent thing, they’re paid and ran in house, meaning Dana calls the shots. This is manufactured fake drama to disguise the fact that they’re not even trying to stop PEDs and haven’t for a long time.

but if they just let Conor jump in and fight the jig is up, so they preemptively got rid of it to explain why Conor can fight, and are making up lies to scapegoat this nonexistent USADA entity which is really the ufc itself.

The only reason it was even a thing in the first place was to clean up UFC’s image to help sell them as a brand to mainstream advertisers and secure the espn/Disney/WME deals. It was never a legitimate effort to stop PED use, PEDs are as rampant as ever. They only popped a few names early on to create the illusion that it’s real, but notice the only big names to catch heat were guys fans already hated so it changed nothing. They weren’t even testing Conor, Khabib, Izzy, etc.

 

[Clark Rogers]

How does it work? I might be wrong.

That whole "they're kept secret" is a fallacy. Their policy is publicly available and easy to find.

There was a change to when they're announced, such that now they're made public after a case is fully adjudicated, B samples tested, etc.

They previously released it before all that, so you had people with false positives getting cleared by B samples but still had their names drug thru the mud, or the potential for that.

I'm not advocating either, both methods have pros and cons, just saying the ones that actually fail aren't hidden.

 

[Yellowcrab]

All of this is completely irrelevant considering Conor didn't get an exemption, is in the pool, and isn't getting an exemption and must remain in the next pool for another 4 months under the successor program too. Literally nothing has changed except which company gets to collect the urine and blood.

It is completely relevant to the fact that they fired USADA. USADA simply said publicly the real reason.

And yeah things have changed, otherwise UFC would have kept USADA. If nothing changed, then they had absolutely no reason to leave USADA.

Their new anti-doping agency is far less stringent.

It's a hissy fit by USADA. Everything they wanted is happening EXCEPT their contract renewal.

It's a non profit organization so this argument is irrelevant.

 

[krelianx]

All of this is completely irrelevant considering Conor didn't get an exemption, is in the pool, and isn't getting an exemption and must remain in the next pool for another 4 months under the successor program too. Literally nothing has changed except which company gets to collect the urine and blood.

It's a hissy fit by USADA. Everything they wanted is happening EXCEPT their contract renewal. It's pretty easy to see what they're actually mad about, and why they haven't issued a second statement retracting the first and wishing the UFC well now that their concerns were addressed.

They're the bitter ex. That's it.

It is not irrelevant since USADA is claiming that the reason for the conflict is that they wouldn't grant Conor an exemption to fight in December.

That Conor didn't get an exemption and submitted his papers as of now does not change the fact that the UFC wanted the exemption and him in the December card, and USADA did not grant it.

In fact, that is the point: he didn't get the exemption and is not fighting on December.

Also, we know Conor submitted his papers. We don't know that he is in the testing pool as of yet. We don't know how long it takes to process these papers, or if they have already.

 

[Aurelian]

UFC can hire and fire whoever they want to. Who gives a shit?

 

[TheComputerGuy]

That whole "they're kept secret" is a fallacy. Their policy is publicly available and easy to find.

There was a change to when they're announced, such that now they're made public after a case is fully adjudicated, B samples tested, etc.

They previously released it before all that, so you had people with false positives getting cleared by B samples but still had their names drug thru the mud, or the potential for that.

I'm not advocating either, both methods have pros and cons, just saying the ones that actually fail aren't hidden.

This was changed because Jones kept testing positive. It was a PR move, so they didn't have to keep making up excuses for him.

 

[Joshuaace]

There is no “UFC or USADA”—UFC IS USADA, it’s not a 3rd party independent thing, they’re paid and ran in house, meaning Dana calls the shots. This is manufactured fake drama to disguise the fact that they’re not even trying to stop PEDs and haven’t for a long time.

but if they just let Conor jump in and fight the jig is up, so they preemptively got rid of it to explain why Conor can fight, and are making up lies to scapegoat this nonexistent USADA entity which is really the ufc itself.

The only reason it was even a thing in the first place was to clean up UFC’s image to help sell them as a brand to mainstream advertisers and secure the espn/Disney/WME deals. It was never a legitimate effort to stop PED use, PEDs are as rampant as ever. They only popped a few names early on to create the illusion that it’s real, but notice the only big names to catch heat were guys fans already hated so it changed nothing. They weren’t even testing Conor, Khabib, Izzy, etc.