Tag: Travis Tygart

Dana White blasts USADA CEO Travis Tygart: ‘This guy went full Britney Spears and lost his mind’

Dana White is still not happy with USADA CEO Travis Tygart.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] is not happy with the way U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) handled their split with the UFC, specifically their CEO [autotag]Travis Tygart[/autotag].

On Friday, the UFC CEO put Tygart on blast for his comments on the statement made by USADA, announcing that Conor McGregor had re-entered the testing pool and that starting 2024 they were no longer going to run the UFC’s anti-doping program.

In those comments, Tygart hinted that the UFC’s objective was to have McGregor avoid the obligatory six-month testing window, consequently rendering the UFC-USADA partnership “untenable.”

White is not happy with the allegations.

“This guy went full Britney Spears and lost his mind,” White told reporters at the UFC Apex on Friday. “Get ready, you’re probably going to see this guy on Instagram dancing with knives, probably in the next two weeks or something. He went nuts. He lost his mind, and it is what it is. It’s whatever.”

UFC executive vice president and chief business officer Hunter Campbell and senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitsky announced Thursday that the Las Vegas-based MMA promotion will partner with Drug Free Sport International to run its athlete anti-doping program starting in 2024.

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White believes USADA hurt their own reputation with the handling of the end of the partnership, and wonders who will want to work with them for anti-doping moving forward.

“I summed it up yesterday in one word – scumbag,” White said. “Listen, it is what it is. They did what they did. Think about this, they’re in a business where they’re looking to bring other sports leagues in. They were with us for eight years. We helped them put them on the map, they helped us build an incredible program. This is how you’re going to end your relationship with us? Who else would want to do business with these guys after that? Not me. So it doesn’t matter to me. We’re moving on, and good luck to him.”

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USADA: Amateur Virginia Fuchs fails drug test because of sex, cleared

Virginia Fuchs was cleared of doping violations because banned substances in her system were transmitted during sex, USADA ruled.

A U.S. Olympic Team member was cleared of a doping violation for a novel reason.

Virginia Fuchs, who hopes to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics next year, evidently will not be punished after testing positive for two banned substances because they were transmitted by her boyfriend during sex, U.S. Anti-Doping Association ruled Thursday.

Fuchs, 32, learned in March that the banned substances were found in her system during an out-of-competition test the previous month. USADA determined during an investigation that her boyfriend had consumed products that contained the substances and that the levels of the substances in her system were consistent with sexual transmission.

USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in a news release that he believes no violation was committed.

“While the World Anti-Doping Code requires that this no-fault finding be considered a violation and be publicly announced, we strongly believe this case and others like it, including meat contamination and prescription medication contamination cases, should be considered no violation,” Tygart said.

“We will continue to advocate for changes to the World Anti-Doping Code so that where there is no intent to cheat and no performance benefit, an athlete should not face any violation or unnecessary public attention.”

The release continued: “During a thorough investigation into the circumstances of Fuchs’ case, USADA determined that Fuchs’ male partner was using therapeutic doses of letrozole and GW1516 and the low amounts of letrozole metabolite and GW1516 metabolites detected in her sample were consistent with recent exposure to the substances via sexual transmission. Additionally, a WADA-accredited laboratory confirmed that products possessed by Fuchs’ partner contained therapeutic amounts of letrozole and GW1516.

Fuchs reacted to USADA’s ruling on Twitter.

“I’m relieved that once USADA completed an extensive investigation, they found that my case was unique and therefore gave me a No Fault ruling, allowing me to return to competition,” Fuchs said. “This has been a huge lesson for me and now that [it’s] over, I’m fully focused on preparing for Tokyo.”

Fuchs, making her third attempt to make the U.S. Olympic team, and most of her teammates will take part in qualifying tournaments next year.