MMA Thread

Oblio said:

Can someone give me the TLDR on the USADA drama? What did they do that was so dirty?

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I think the straw that broke the camel's back, was that USADA kept pushing back on the 6mo rule with Conor, even though UFC could technically have given him an exemption. It creates an optics issue because with USADA saying multiple times in 2023 that regardless of what the UFC decides, that they still thought Conor should do 6mo...if the UFC were to say "fuck it" and give Conor the exemption, it'd make the UFC look like they were dirty and just doing it for the money.

So why even have the 6mo exemption in place if USADA was going to push back against it every time it came up? It'd be like USADA saying "You can have your fighter in less than 6mo, but we don't agree and it's all on you. So you can go explain to the world why you don't want to listen to the company you hired for your drug testing". It's almost like you're dealing with a passive aggressive girlfriend, or something.

Then there was debate over whether there was an "Approved Medical Basis" for some of the stuff Conor was using to recover, and what actually qualified as "exceptional circumstances" in regards to the exemption. Then on top of that the argument over whether it would even be an issue if it was declared upon Conor's return to the testing pool, in the case he then pissed hot. We argued this to hell and back in this thread months ago, and my guess is that was never ironed out between USADA and UFC either.

This whole thing would probably have pissed me off, too. After all of the pulsing and picogram bullshit, one has to ask if USADA did more harm than good, considering the drama they've had around JJ and Conor. And I'm sure that's what the UFC was discussing in private.


The most recent 'dirty' thing, I guess, was Tygart being pretty unprofessional (IMHO) and taking swipes at the UFC in the public statement he released, just 2 days after they had met with the UFC and the UFC had informed them that they'd be going with another company in the future. There's several points in USADA's press release where I actually laughed at how...petty...it came across.



Back in March, Conor went on Ariel's show and when Ariel asked him about the timeframe for returning in 2023, especially in regards to USADA, Conor basically said that as far as he understood it was 2 clean tests and then he could fight.

Then 2 days after that, UDASA releases a statement in response to Conor's comments in that interview. They again put the onus on the UFC and push back stating that an exemption wouldn't be fair, and then Conor responds and says that USADA is finished.

I think even here you see USADA say that it's up to the UFC to hand out an exemption, but then immediately state that they don't think it should apply in Conor's case.

My guess is that the UFC had been discussing replacing USADA for a while now, possibly going back to JJ. And I imagine that Dana had probably discussed some of this with Conor when trying to sort out Conor's return. So when Conor made these statements, I doubt that he was completely in the dark about which way the UFC was leaning at the time. USADA has been straining the relationship with the UFC for years and this 2023 bullshit finally forced the issue (IMHO)



Conor's tweets have since been deleted so I had to go back and find screenshots.

Lanx said:

i don't think youre reading properly, get a magnifying glass

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What, so then you're both squinting?



JK, LOL!

Erronius said:

I think the straw that broke the camel's back, was that USADA kept pushing back on the 6mo rule with Conor, even though UFC could technically have given him an exemption. It creates an optics issue because with USADA saying multiple times in 2023 that regardless of what the UFC decides, that they still thought Conor should do 6mo...if the UFC were to say "fuck it" and give Conor the exemption, it'd make the UFC look like they were dirty and just doing it for the money.

So why even have the 6mo exemption in place if USADA was going to push back against it every time it came up? It'd be like USADA saying "You can have your fighter in less than 6mo, but we don't agree and it's all on you. So you can go explain to the world why you don't want to listen to the company you hired for your drug testing". It's almost like you're dealing with a passive aggressive girlfriend, or something.

Then there was debate over whether there was an "Approved Medical Basis" for some of the stuff Conor was using to recover, and what actually qualified as "exceptional circumstances" in regards to the exemption. Then on top of that the argument over whether it would even be an issue if it was declared upon Conor's return to the testing pool, in the case he then pissed hot. We argued this to hell and back in this thread months ago, and my guess is that was never ironed out between USADA and UFC either.

This whole thing would probably have pissed me off, too. After all of the pulsing and picogram bullshit, one has to ask if USADA did more harm than good, considering the drama they've had around JJ and Conor. And I'm sure that's what the UFC was discussing in private.


The most recent 'dirty' thing, I guess, was Tygart being pretty unprofessional (IMHO) and taking swipes at the UFC in the public statement he released, just 2 days after they had met with the UFC and the UFC had informed them that they'd be going with another company in the future. There's several points in USADA's press release where I actually laughed at how...petty...it came across.

McGregor Re-Enters the USADA Testing Pool and UFC and USADA End Anti-Doping Program Agreement

Statement from USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart on the end of the program agreement between UFC and USADA.

www.usada.org

Back in March, Conor went on Ariel's show and when Ariel asked him about the timeframe for returning in 2023, especially in regards to USADA, Conor basically said that as far as he understood it was 2 clean tests and then he could fight.

Then 2 days after that, UDASA releases a statement in response to Conor's comments in that interview. They again put the onus on the UFC and push back stating that an exemption wouldn't be fair, and then Conor responds and says that USADA is finished.

I think even here you see USADA say that it's up to the UFC to hand out an exemption, but then immediately state that they don't think it should apply in Conor's case.

My guess is that the UFC had been discussing replacing USADA for a while now, possibly going back to JJ. And I imagine that Dana had probably discussed some of this with Conor when trying to sort out Conor's return. So when Conor made these statements, I doubt that he was completely in the dark about which way the UFC was leaning at the time. USADA has been straining the relationship with the UFC for years and this 2023 bullshit finally forced the issue (IMHO)



Conor's tweets have since been deleted so I had to go back and find screenshots.

View attachment 497631

View attachment 497628



What, so then you're both squinting?



JK, LOL!

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Thanks Dude, great synopsis!

Robbery or not, Francis is gonna get paid much more than he would have made in the UFC, so good on him for doing so well and not getting clowned.

Gavinmad said:

UFC really doesn't need help looking dirty though.

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UFC just really doesn't need USADA's help with making things worse, LOL.