Hunter Campbell, executive vice president and chief business officer of the UFC, has lately spoken out against the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for issuing statements that target Conor McGregor and accuse the promotion of attempting to defy the basic norms of the drug-testing agency.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA, delivered a statement earlier this week in which he addressed the disagreement between the UFC and USADA as well as Conor McGregor’s return to the testing pool. It is common knowledge that the Irishman suffered a terrible leg fracture while competing against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, which caused him to be forced to withdraw from active drug testing. This information is not a secret.
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Tygart said that the relationship between his firm and the UFC went sour owing to the organization demanding extraordinary exemption for its biggest superstar, Conor McGregor. This allegation comes at a time when McGregor is getting ready to make his return. On the other hand, Hunter Campbell gave a scathing critique of Tygart’s remarks and denied the claims.
During a recent press conference, the Chief Business Officer for the UFC reaffirmed unequivocally that the promotion did not request the drug-testing agency to allow Conor McGregor to compete prior to the completion of the mandatory six-month testing period, and he stated:
“It’s very disappointing that they utilized Conor McGregor as a vehicle to sort of articulate and re-frame a complete misrepresentation of what took place over the course of the past few months… What I can state with absolute certainty is that the statements that USADA has made in the past two days could not be further from the truth.
He continued by saying:
“What I explained to Travis on several occasions, including the call on Monday, was that there would never be a situation where Conor would fight until he had been in the program for six months… I told him that there would never be a situation where Conor would fight until he had been in the program for six months… Using him as a media vehicle to advance a bogus narrative is frightening, horrible, and I think they have some legitimate legal liability for doing so. “For an entity that holds themselves out to 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.”
UFC-USADA spilt: Hunter Campbell demands immediate apology and statement retraction from drug-testing agency
At the same press conference, Hunter Campbell not only asked that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) offer a public apology for their recent statements, but he also went on a tirade against USADA, calling the organization “scorched earth.”
Campbell added that during a phone discussion with Travis Tygart earlier this week, the agency frontman was informed of the UFC’s decision to stop their collaboration once their contract expired in January 2024. This news came as a surprise to Tygart, who had been expecting to continue working with the UFC. According to recent reports, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will begin working with the Drug Free Sport International (DFSI) beginning in 2019.
The Chief Business Officer for the UFC has indicated that although though Tygart was speaking quietly, he was acting curiously “unhinged” and did not react well to the news. Campbell stated the following in reference to Tygart’s response to the news:
“I couldn’t have been more clear about the reasons that we were making the change, and he was just completely unhinged after hearing that,” she said. In all honesty, it was akin to someone having a mental breakdown… I believe that phone call was the proverbial “last straw” that caused the camel’s back to buckle.
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In continuation of his argument, Hunter Campbell divulged that the UFC had served the drug-testing agency with a legal notice that demanded an apology and a statement retraction, both of which were due on or before October 12 at 5 p.m. It was noted in the letter that
“As a result of this, we are hereby demanding that you issue an appropriate retraction and apology to the UFC no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 12 at the latest.The retraction should admit that the statements in the statement are false, whether they expressly or implicitly imply that the UFC severed its partnership with USADA in order to speed up Conor McGregor’s return to the UFC. [with acknowledgement to mmajunkie.usatoday.com]
