What is Drug Free Sport? UFC brass namedrops the new agency they are looking to partner with after USADA's controversial exit
The UFC will partner with a new anti-doping agency beginning January 2024, after their partnership with the USADA comes to an end on December 31.
The promotion's chief business officer and senior executive vice president Hunter Campbell and senior vice president of athlete health and performance, Jeff Novitsky, recently announced that they would continue their anti-doping program with Drug Free Sport International (DFSI).
Earlier this week, the USADA released a scathing statement accusing the UFC of asking the drug-testing agency to exempt Conor McGregor from the mandatory six-month testing period. This caused friction between the two parties, ultimately leading to an irreconcilable split between them.
Addressing the UFC-USADA split in a recent press conference, Hunter Campbell confirmed that the promotion will be partnering with DFSI starting next year and said:
"Jeff and I were talking horse-racing, who was all but encouraged strongly from Congress to get a deal done with USADA but wasn't able to do so in the last 18 months. They went with a company called Drug Free Sport, which is an entity that we're going to move to as well."
Catch Cambell's comments below (4:06):
The DFSI is considered among the world's best anti-doping agencies and has over 24 years of experience providing anti-doping solutions for sporting organizations. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, the DFSI currently serves several major athletic organizations like the FIFA, MLB, NFL, NBA, and NCAA collegiate sports.
It was also recently reported that George Piro, a former FBI special agent, will serve as the independent administrator of the UFC anti-doping program next year.
Jeff Novitsky shares details about UFC's updated anti-doping program following split with USADA
UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance, Jeff Novitsky, recently shared some details about the promotion's new anti-doping program. He also outlined some major changes that will be implemented after Drug Free Sport International comes into the picture.
In the same press conference, Novitsky revealed that the DFSI would begin handling sample collection for all athletes starting January 2024 and promised that the updated program would be vastly better than the one USADA had in place.
Some of the major changes that will be implemented under the updated anti-doping program include increasing the amount of blood testing, conducting oral fluid testing, performing tests for growth hormone-releasing factors on every sample, conducting dry blood spot testing, and increasing the amount of isotope ratio mass spectrometry testing to deter testosterone abuse.
Apart from that, Jeff Novitsky also emphasized the importance of studying stimulant usage outside competition, a better biological passport system, and using a better long-term sample storage method.