The UFC has issued a statement on their official website, accusing USADA of mishandling the administration of a failed drug test for one of their fighters.
According to the entry on UFC.com authored by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), “Russian Ronda” Irina Alekseeva failed a drug test on June 21st, 2023, which was when USADA was still running UFC’s drug testing program. Alekseeva’s urine contained ‘values consistent with the administration of testosterone of exogenous origin.’
However, Alekseeva and UFC were not informed about this drug test failure by USADA for several months.
The statement declared that the USADA neglected to inform both Alekseeva and the UFC about the sample’s results until October 31, 2023. This occurred over four months after collecting the sample, and after Alekseeva had already participated in a UFC event in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 14, 2023.
The UFC ended it’s relationship with USADA at the end of 2023 (under somewhat acrimonious circumstances), and now uses CSAD. The new drug testing regime hasn’t been as visible as USADA was, but seem to be administrating things in a fair and competent manner thus far.
The statement stated that although CSAD was not the independent administrator of the UFC ADP during the mentioned time frame, they acknowledge the significance of timely reporting of results for samples collected prior to a UFC event. They also acknowledge that it is unacceptable for positive results to be reported more than 4 months after the sample collection, especially if the athlete has been allowed to compete in a UFC bout in the meantime.
Once CSAD’s program successfully took control, they promptly reached out to Alekseeva and launched a comprehensive investigation into her testing related to the failed drug test. Subsequent tests conducted after the initial failure revealed no traces of exogenous testosterone. However, due to the time gap between the test failure and notification, Alekseeva’s team was unable to thoroughly examine a detailed roster of supplements that could have potentially contributed to the unusual drug test outcome.
Previously, USADA’s response would have been a two-year suspension, without any sympathy. However, considering the peculiar circumstances surrounding the test notification, CSAD has decided to impose a 12-month suspension starting from the date of her last UFC competition, which was October 15, 2023.
